Untitled (Second Chance)
by Kennie Barton
Summary: As the Battle against Gaia draws to a close, the last of the seven stands before the mother of the earth, knowing he can not win. At least not this time. Seven heroes. Seven deaths. Seven reincarnations. A second chance to stop Gaia and the Giants. Sometimes goodbye is a second chance. Originally inspired by "Second Chance" by Shinedown. Various song lyrics featured.
1. Percy- Second Chance

_My eyes are opened wide.  
_He felt his grip tightened around the hilt of his sword. Riptide had never failed him before, they had faced some impressive monsters and Riptide had not failed him. _  
_Until now._  
_He wanted to through the weapon away. It had been a waste, all this had been a waste. They were losing so terribly, his comrades were falling around him faster than he could account for them. _  
_Jason to a giant, Frank to his own fire, Hazel—what had happened to Hazel? Where had Leo vanished to? Was he still aboard the Argo II when Gaia tore it from the sky? Piper had been near Jason, had she escaped the giant's ambush?_  
_And Annabeth, she had been at his side, now he could not see her._  
By the way, I made it through the day.  
_Was he the only one left? Of all of them that sailed from New Rome, after all of those adventures, fights and close calls, was he the only one to have survived? His breath caught in his throat, his fingers growing numb._  
_Pain lanced through his back, through his ribs. Slowly he turned to face the monster that had bested him. Gaia, Mother of the Earth. Her wicked smile showed ghostly pale against the earth body she was using to fight._  
By the way, I'm leaving out today.  
_What was there really left to fight for? He was just one hero amid thousands upon thousands of monsters. His companions had fallen, and unless Nico and Reyna had reached Camp and the Romans agreed to the truce, no backup would be coming. He had done so much to help everyone, and they had left him to fight this battle alone._  
Tell my mother, I've done the best I can. This is my life, I hope she understands.  
_Percy's grip tightened around the worn hilt of Riptide. His green eyes steeled over as he looked upon the earthy form of Gaia. He may lose this fight, but he was going to take the entire Giant army with him; including their slumbering leader._  
I'm not angry, I'm just saying.  
_"Sometimes good bye is a second chance," he looked to where he had last seen Jason and Piper fighting._  
_They had given him this chance to finish this._  
_Percy looked to where the Argo II had been swallowed by the rolling earth. _  
_Leo had given Percy this opportunity to defeat Gaia._  
_He looked to where the fires had burned away legions of the giants, where Frank had made his final stand._  
_Frank had believed in him._  
_Percy glanced down to his side, where Annabeth normally fought, her blonde hair tied back to keep it from her face, her stormy eyes narrowed in fury._  
_He would avenge them all._  
_"What was that, little Hero?" the form spoke with the sleepy voice that had haunted Percy for weeks. "Are you sad that all your little friends abandoned you in this fight?"_  
_"They didn't abandon me," he replied, calling the water from the river to come to his aide. He could not fight with a gnash up his side._  
Please don't cry one tear for me. I'm not afraid of what I've done today.  
_"Then where are they, little Hero?" Gaia asked drowsily. "You are the only one still standing before me."_  
_"You might have cut them down, but you will never defeat them," Percy growled. "They'll reincarnate and fight you again. We will never allow you to rise Gaia, never!"_  
_He lunged at the being, cutting through the loose soil and charging deeper into the enemy encampment, Riptide tearing through flesh as he passed the Giants still looking for opponents. Where were the gods? How could they have abandoned their own children so easily? Of course they had run when things grew too difficult. Gods did not meddle in the affairs of mortals, and were too frightened of the slumbering goddess to stand up to her._  
_He was not. Percy Jackson was no coward._  
This is my one and only voice, so listen close; it's only for today.  
_A roar of rage rose from Percy's chest as he reached the center of the camp, where the body of Gaia had been raised for her awakening. His fingers curled around the hilt of his sword, knuckles stark white against his grime and blood covered hands._  
Tell my father I've done the best I can, to make him realize this is my life, I hope he understands.  
_He stalked up to the altar, his breathing steadying with each step. His purpose defined by the dark world falling around him. The casing around Gaia shattered as Percy approached, his sword raised for the final blow._  
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance._

* * *

He took a deep breath, opening his eyes. He could not remember how he got to this place, but it was cool and fresh. Lifting his hands he could see the scars of his life fading quickly, like the cuts had never occurred.  
"What is this?" he asked the void, turning to try and see. All around him was a white light. How did he get here? What was this place?  
"It's safe to assume you're going to try for the Isles of the Blest?"  
"Hades," Percy turned to the Lord of the Dead.  
"All your friends have already agreed, they've gone on ahead again."  
"Annabeth?"  
Hades nodded, "yes, she's trying for the Isles of the Blest; said she'd be waiting for you, on the other side." A smile pulled at the god's lips.  
"I won't remember them, will I?" If he had a new life he would not remember the others, and they would not remember him. He would never see them since they had gone on ahead of him.  
"There are some things, even gods can't do," Hades winked at the young demigod, a knowing smile dominating his face. "When you find them, be sure to stop Gaia."  
Percy nodded, a smile pulling on his lips.  
_Sometimes goodbye is a second chance._


	2. Annabeth- How Could This Happen to Me?

Air.  
She gasped, taking in the sweet fresh air. She had been without it and only just realized that she had been suffocating. Her heart beat rapidly, recovering with the onrush of oxygen. The feeling returned to numb limbs, blood rushed through the cold veins.  
_I open my eyes, I try to see, but I'm blinded by the white light._  
Groggily she attempted to it up, her hands reaching up to support her head. Her temples throbbed as her head rose from the ground. It might have been from the light, it was so bright. She squeezed her eyes shut and gasped, pressing her head into her hands.  
Her hands felt heavy, leaden compared to any other day. Her muscles burned to hold her arms up, for her hands to support her head, which was light. It must be the lack of oxygen, she decided taking another deep cleansing breath of the cool fresh air, a few minutes and she would be fine.  
_I can't remember how, I can't remember why, I'm lying here._  
Where was she? How had she come to be here, in this place? All she could remember was a fire. The blaze dancing before her eyes while the ravenous flame crawled toward her. The tongues of fire licking at her flesh as the smoke filled her lungs. She gasped, coughing as her throat constricted with the memory tearing into her senses.  
She doubled over, trying to expel the phantom smoke. Her headache roared as she hacked. She tried to stop, but the smoke still burning in her throat, he lungs fought for the fresh air she had just tasted.  
_I can't stand the pain. And I can't make it go away._  
She felt tears welling in her eyes. Her body jerked, seizing she fell back, her head slamming on the ground with a resounding crack, and still she choked on the acrid phantom smoke. She could not clear her throat, she could not inhale, her body started failing cut off from clean breathable air. Her hands ripped at her throat as she tried to breathe, to remove the smoke.  
The smoke intensified the longer she fought to breath. Was she dying? Was this the fires of the Underworld coming to take her? Were the Fates circling in on her, coming to claim her soul? She rolled, curling in on herself, still coughing and tearing at her throat.  
Had she been sent to the Plains of Punishment? Had she passed through the Judgment Pavilion? Had she even died?  
_I can't change the things that I've done._  
"If you relax you can breathe," a voice pulled her from the fire. Gasping she looked up at the man, panic washing over her again. This man, she could remember this man. And she knew not to trust this man. The Lord of the Underworld had conned her too many times to earn another chance.  
"Don't worry, I'm not going to pull anything," Hades held his hands up before him, a submissive gesture. "It's just that hard to talk when your conversation partner is choking on a memory."  
A memory? The fire had been real? She had burned. This was the Underworld.  
"Why do you care?" She managed to gasp, struggling to sit up again. The headache intensified, causing her to double over to hold her head.  
"Do you think I want her to win?" Hades asked simply, waiting as she struggled with her shaking body.  
"Who?" she choked, squeezing her eyes shut to block out the light.  
"You're the one who fought the war," his brow rose as he looked down at her.  
_How could this happen to me, got nowhere to run._  
"I died," she gasped, the fire burning through her again. "Fighting the war, the final battle," it was more statement than question. If she was before Hades, she had died. But this was not the Underworld. Where was she? "What about the others? Percy? Jason?" her throat constricted as Hades shook his head. "No one survived?"  
_I'm sick of this life, I just want to scream._  
"The others have gone on ahead," Hades offered quietly.  
"To Elysium?" she looked up at the god, if they had gone to Elysium she could find them again. She could find Percy and they could be together forever; or until Gaia overthrew the Olympians. She had earned Elysium. Surely all of the heroes who had sailed to Greece had earned Elysium.  
But Hades shook his head. "They chose reincarnation." She nodded as if some small part of her knew that was the choice they would all have made. She had been expecting the news that they had chose to try again, to continue the fight. "They want another chance to beat Gaia."  
_How could this happen to me?_  
Annabeth came to her feet, squaring her shoulders as she stood before the Lord of the Underworld. She wiped the pooling tears from her eyes with the soot stained back of her hand, the other clenched tightly at her side.  
Hades smiled grimly at her, motioning to a door that appeared at his side, "I can't promise much."  
"Will I remember? My life? Our mission? The others?"  
Hades smile grew, "there are some things not even gods can do."  
Annabeth took a deep breath and looked down at her side, her knife was still belted at her side, or it had been returned during this talk with Hades. Was Hades saying he was allowing her to keep the memories, or that he had no control over this? That statement was an enigma, but one she did not have time to contemplate.  
_I wanna start this over again._  
"I also choose reincarnation," she looked up at Hades with her stormy eyes. "I want the chance to defeat Gaia and the Giants. I think I might have found a way."  
"Oh?" Hades questioned, his brows rising as he looked down at the young demigod, already her wounds were healing, the soot floating from her skin. New life was flowing through her.  
Annabeth nodded. "If you see Percy again, tell him I'll be waiting."  
Hades smiled again, "Of course."  
_I can't explain what happened. I can't erase the things that I've done._  
"Right this way," Hades motioned to the door, his head bowing slightly. "And when you find them, make sure to stop Gaia."  
Annabeth nodded, smiling as she passed Hades and walked through the door.

* * *

Air.  
She took in a deep breath of the cool night air. Slowly her eyes opened to a sky filled with stars. She recognized them, they were the stars that had shined over her before. "Bob says hello."  
_Sometimes goodbye is a second chance._


	3. Jason- Black Parade

He could still hear the challenges. He had grown up with them. Of course he would hear them as he faced this, his greatest battle. Can you prove yourself worthy? Are you capable of earning Jupiter's favor? Are you capable of earning Juno's?  
Standing in the middle of the Giant army he could hear the echoing questions. He knew them so well. And he could prove himself to them. He was a son of Jupiter, he was Praetor, he was the chosen Champion of Juno.  
_Would you be the savior of the broken?_  
His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword, the knuckles whitening. A scowl tore his face, his eyes steeled against his next adversary. And the Giant laughed; a great bellowing sound from the stomach of the beast. It only furthered Jason's rage.  
_Will you defeat them? Your demons and all the non-believers?_  
His battle cry lacked words; it was more of the primitive sound coming from the bottom of Jason's gut. His cry rolled through him, empowering him as he charged the giant, his sword raised over his head. The winds pushed him forward, aiding him in his assault.  
His sword cut through the flesh on the giant's arm, the blood poured over Jason. The demigod did not slow. His sword reversed in his grip, tearing into the giant again. Jason leapt away as a club swung past him, missing him by mere inches.  
_Sometimes I get the feeling she's watching over me._  
With another primal yell Jason's sword ran through the giant's neck. Standing over the slain giant, Jason looked up. Someone must have been watching over him, a god had to help to kill these giants. And they would have to help defeat Gaia.  
Were the gods watching them fight this battle? Were the gods up there waiting for the chance to assist their mortal children? Or was it luck that had allowed him to decapitate the giant?  
No, someone was watching him. Percy had explained that it took a demigod and a god to defeat the agents of Gaia. Which god had helped Jason?  
Jupiter, perhaps? Or his sponsor, Juno? Maybe some lesser god, one who was not being conflicted as the twelve Olympians. Whatever the case, Jason was thankful, but he had no more time to contemplate it.  
He had to find the mother of the Earth, he had to find Gaia.  
_When you're gone we want you all to know, we'll carry on!_  
He moved through the army, taking out giants as he sought out the leader, the slumbering goddess. Around him he could see others fighting. Frank and Hazel, Leo commanding the Argo II, Piper fighting alongside Coach Hedge. Percy and Annabeth surrounded by fire and the escaped monsters of Tartarus, fighting to reach the center of the encampment.  
They were losing. The realization settled over him like a thick blanket. They were hopelessly outnumbered, and lacking any substantial aide from the Olympians. It would only be a matter of hours before Gaia's forces had them subdued.  
_A world that sends you reeling through decimated dreams._  
He had wanted more than this. He had always dreamt of more than dying at the hands of the giants, fighting a losing battle. A losing battle…  
He had not even meant to think that. He had not realized that his mind was pinning this as a pointless endeavor, a losing battle. Greece had been a mistake, bringing the battle to Gaia had been a mistake. They were right where she wanted them, and they were powerless to stop her.  
_Your misery and hate will kill us all._  
"Why so sad, little hero?" the sleepy voice rose from the ground. An earthen figure stood before him, the loose soil falling off her as she moved. "Are you sad because all of your little friends abandoned you in this fight?"  
"They didn't abandon me or this fight," Jason seethed, his grip tightening around his sword's hilt. "And you will never win!"  
The primal scream tore from his lips as Jason's blade ran through the earthen puppet. Gaia's sleepy laugh echoed around him as the dirt showered him. Jason did not care, he was tired of this fight. It was time to end it. His scream continued as Jason ran through the camp, rushing for the center where the goddess was sleeping.  
As the body came into view, he felt the fire coming toward him. The fire! The others, where they alright? Was Frank in there? Was Hazel fighting somewhere within the blaze? Leo, where was Leo with the Argo II? What had happened to Percy and Annabeth; the last he had seen of them had been inside those monstrous flames.  
He had to end this. He charged the sleeping figure, raising his sword and readied for the final blow. A defiant yell tearing form his lungs as the blade fell.  
_Defiant to the end we hear the call, to carry on._

* * *

"Pluto," he gasped, looking around the white space around him. The god stood over him, watching. Quickly Jason sat up, turning so he looked up at the King of the Underworld.  
"It's Hades," the god responded, shrugging. "I'm Hades, the Greek deity. And you, little Roman are sitting in a limbo."  
"I died?"  
"Not as dumb as you look," the god chuckled squatting down next to Jason on the ground. "So tell me, are you content with Elysium?"  
"Elysium?" Jason turned to look at the god. "Just like that? It's over?"  
Hades laughed, shaking his head. "I didn't think so."  
"I can't be finished. The others, they're still fighting. They need help, if that fire isn't stopped Frank will burn out! And Hazel, she'll get caught in the crossfire," Jason jumped to his feet, starting to pace a circle. He could not be dead, he still felt alive. He still had a purpose, Gaia was still out there. "And Piper," he began.  
"Stop," Hades laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I didn't think you'd settle on Elysium."  
"What?"  
"Reincarnation, the others have already decided."  
"They already—all of us, died?" He felt his stomach drop as he looked away from Hades. None of them had managed to defeat Gaia? The whole battle had been pointless, there was no one else to defeat Gaia. The other heroes were about to start a new civil war, they had never cared about Gaia—they had been too caught up in trying to destroy one another.  
Hades nodded, "you did. And the others have gone on ahead."  
"They went back?" Hades nodded. "They're going to fight again?" again the god nodded.  
"But," Jason paused. "But, we won't remember."  
"There are some things even gods can't do."  
Jason smiled.  
_We'll carry on!_  
"When you find them, be sure to stop Gaia."  
_Sometimes goodbye is a second chance._


	4. Leo- It's Not My Time

The wind rushed past him as the Argo II soared over the roaring inferno. The fire did not bother him, fire could never bother him, and it was doing a decent job at thinning out the numbers of Gaia's army. Leo smiled looking down at the ground; the gift from Hephaestus was burning through the giants, bringing them closer to stopping Gaia.  
_Living life like an ocean._  
Festus clicked and whirled as Leo banked hard to the right, moving to find the center of the camp. That was the plan, fly the Argo II to the center of the camp and use her as a homing beacon. The golden warship was difficult to miss, even among the giants and monsters surrounding them. And he had managed to fix Festus a little, the metallic dragon could help take out some of the giants.  
At least Leo hoped Festus could help wipe out some of Gaia's army. With the luck Leo had been having lately Festus was just as likely to explode killing Leo instead of the giant army. He could not afford to think that way. This was it, the final battle.  
_But now the current's only pulling me down._  
Beneath him the ground swirled.  
"Gaia," he breathed moving to look over the port side. The goddess was rising from the ground, her will shifting the topsoil, causing it to ripple like stilled water. "She's coming Festus," he ran back to his command center, taking hold of one of the various controllers, "Are you ready boy?"  
The Argo II creaked, Morse code reverberating through Leo's body. Festus was ready. Leo smiled sailing his ship toward the ground, and the rolling soil.  
_It won't be long and I'll be going under._  
The Argo II hit the ground harder than Leo had expected. The rolling and tossing of the ocean-like soil still took impacts like a rock. The metal hull of the ship grated, sparking as she slid across the waving ground. Leo lurched forward on the impact, flying over his command center and sliding on the deck.  
The Argo II groaned, her bow sinking into the loose earth. Gaia was pulling him in. She was taking the ship! Leo bounced back up to his feet, running to try and save the Argo II, his masterpiece, his legacy.  
"No, no, no, no," he panicked trying to get the engines into reverse. He had to pull her up, get her away from the ground. The Argo II was the beacon, the gathering place; their mobile fortress of awesomeness. "Come on, fire up," he hit the controls, anger and fear over taking the natural compassion he had for his vessel.  
Festus clicked, trying to do as Leo commanded. The engines roared trying to pull free of the encroaching earth. He could feel the heat emanating from the bowls of his ship, the engines were in overdrive trying to pull free.  
_Can you save me from this?_  
"No," he breathed as the dirt spilled over the railing on the deck. The bow was buried beneath the churning soil, the Argo II was sinking further. "Not my ship," he gasped looking around him. What could he do? There had to be something on this ship that he could use to pull her free.  
_It's not my time._  
He looked down at his waist, to his tool belt. He could pull anything from that tool belt. But nothing in there could save the Argo II, nothing he could summon from his tool belt would stop the rolling soil and pull his ship free.  
That was hardly going to stop him. He was Leo Valdez, one of the Seven, the blest son of Hephaestus; he had the gift of fire, a gift the god rarely bestowed upon his children. Leo Valdez was not going to be swallowed by the Ancient Lands.  
Fire burned through him as he ran for the bow of the ship. His hands burst into flame and he leapt up in the air, vaulting onto the pooling earth. With enough heat he could turn the earth back to molten lava, he could melt it and pull Agro II out before she melted too much.  
The fire raged around him, the heat aiding him as he fought to free his ship as she sank lower and lower into the earth. Leo gritted his teeth, the fires burned brighter with his determination. The engines roared as Festus tried to pull them free.  
_I'm not going, there's a fear in me and it's not showing._  
The more he tired to free them the faster the earth swallowed his ship. Leo retreated closer to the stern as the soil pooled over the sides. He backed into the railings, fire still pouring from his hands, still determined to save the Argo II. He had to pull free, the others would be looking for the ship as a rallying point.  
As the dirt reached him again, Leo looked up. The fires were closing in on him, the Giants marched past. In the distance he could hear the others fighting, all trying to reach him. Had they seen what had happened? Were they coming to help him free the Argo II?  
Were they even still alive?  
He was buried to his waist when the thought hit him. He had been so concerned with freeing the Argo II he had not thought about the fate of his friends. He had done nothing, he had lost the Argo II.  
The earth reached his shoulders. He was sinking with the ship, this was it. All he had accomplished was helping the others reach Greece.  
_This could be the end of and everything I know._  
Leo looked up at the hazy sky. The blue was hidden behind the blood red flames, the clouds overpowered by the black smoke. This was the last he would see of the sky in this life. As the earth swallowed him, Leo took a deep breath and waited.  
_But I won't go._

* * *

_I look ahead to all the plans that we made and the dreams that we had._  
"I know I died," Leo sat up in the white room. It was not what he expected the Underworld to look like, it was a lot more pleasant than he thought it would be. "And I want to go back."  
"Back?" the man Leo assumed to be Hades asked with a furrowed brow.  
Leo nodded, "Reincarnation. I know I suffocated when Gaia made the earth eat the Argo II. I want—no! I need to go back and keep fighting."  
"Reincarnation doesn't work that way kid," Hades held his hands up to slow Leo down. "Reincarnation would make you be reborn, as a baby. You'd have to grow up all over again, and Gaia would have already won by the time you were old enough to fight—if you were even able to."  
"You can do something. You're Hades, Lord of the Underworld. King of the Dead, one of the Big Three!"  
"That's all very impressive kid, but I can't change the rules."  
"Just this one time," Leo begged, looking pleadingly up at Hades. "The fate of the world is at stake!"  
"I'm sorry kid, there are rules and even I can't break some of them."  
"Then what's the point of being a god?"  
_I'm in a world that tried to take them away._  
"Most of the perks are pretty nice," Hades looked at Leo critically.  
"This isn't the time for jokes. I have to get back there and help the others."  
"You think you can help them?"  
"Of course I can. I was part of that prophecy for a reason," Leo shouted, his anger lending volume to his protests.  
_I'm taking them back._  
There had to be something Hades could do. He was a god, he ruled the Underworld. If Hades gave the word the dead could come back to life, Hazel was proof of that. She had been dead for seventy years. All Leo had to was convince Hades that this fight was worthy of his attention.  
"If we don't defeat Gaia, that will be the end of everything."  
"I know," Hades sat back in a chair that appeared beneath him.  
_It's not what we have it's what we believe in. _  
"Then do something!"  
"Kid, there are some things not even the gods can do. And aside from the doors of death being open, people do not come back from the dead. Except for reincarnation."  
"But we won't remember our quest."  
"And Gaia would have already won."  
Leo's shoulders slumped as his head fell. Unless one of the others managed to defeat Gaia, they would never get another chance. The world was really ending, and he was arguing with the Lord of the Dead.  
_It's not my time._  
"What about the doppelgangers?" the idea struck Leo like a lightning flash. He had heard something about everyone having a twin, or someone so eerily similar they were practically twins. What if Hades could send them back in the bodies of the doppelgangers?  
"Doppelgangers? What doppelgangers?"  
"That thing about how we all have a twin," Leo's eyes grew wide, his excitement almost uncontainable. "If you sent us back, in place of the doppelganger, we could stop Gaia!"  
_There might be more than you believe. There might be more than you can see._  
"It could work," Hades stroked his chin, leaning back in his chair. "But,"  
"But? But what?"  
"The other person would have to die for this to work."  
Leo was about to shout that it would be worth it, but his comments died in his throat. The chance to save the world was worth the lives of seven mortals. But not to those seven mortals, their lives were their own and no one wanted to die.  
"What if it was just long enough to stop Gaia?"  
"And then what?"  
"Actual reincarnation, or Elysium." Either would be fine as long as they were still options when the fighting was over. Leo did not want to die, so he personally would chose reincarnation, perhaps he could have a more normal life the second time.  
"What makes you think this will work? What if there are no doppelgangers?"  
"There must be something you can do," Leo's shoulders hung in dejection. Was Hades saying there was no chance? Was this really the end?  
"This one time," Hades smiled, "I think I can pull some strings. When you find them, be sure to stop Gaia."  
_Sometimes goodbye is a second chance._


	5. Frank- In the End

He took a deep breath, his hands up defensively as he watched the enemy approaching. It was times like this he wished he had a sword like Percy or Jason, even a little knife like the girls. But all he had was the bow and arrow, which had become useless right after he left the ship. A quiver that never ran out of arrows, that was what he really needed. That would be a weapon that would be remembered in this war.  
Shape shifting was good too, but most of the glorified heroes filling the pages of the history books had swords; swords with awesome names, tragic back stories and usually cursed blades. Shape shifters were few and far between, and their stories are overly mysterious, hardly remembered. Frank wanted his story to be filled with tales of daring like Jason's, both the Argonaut and his friend, or Percy's. Future demigods would be telling the famous adventures of Percy and Jason for centuries, Frank would only be a side character.  
It seemed he would always be a side character to them, less than Annabeth and Piper, the girlfriends of such amazing heroes; Annabeth had her own epic story. Or even Hazel, the girl who had come back from the dead to help defeat Gaia, and Leo the child of Hephaestus who built a giant ship that sailed the skies and the seas.  
He was just Frank; a companion to Percy and Jason, who risked everything by sailing to the Ancient Lands, and would never make it home.  
_Time is a valuable thing. Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings._  
"Frank! I'm going on ahead," he turned to Hazel, the skunk sitting at her shoulder as she ran toward the fires Leo set. It was part of the plan they went ahead without him.  
"Just be careful," he shouted after her. His life was in her hands.  
She smiled, holding her hand up in farewell and ran toward the flames. He smiled briefly before turning back to his own challenge. The Giant army was coming; the giants were searching for him and the others. He was the vanguard, the first line of defense.  
_Watch it count down to the end of the day, the clock ticks life away._  
The fighting began. He took out so many of the giants, it felt he had the strength of Mars burning through him, perhaps he did. Mars and Ares had both aided him before, and he would not have been able to stop the giants without the help of one of the gods.  
When he returned to himself he stood amidst the carnage, his own body beaten and broken. The gift he had received in Rome was not with him this time, he had been hurt, and he felt the flames moving in closer. Had Hazel managed to reach Leo and the Argo II? Had their plan worked?  
He could only hope.  
_Trying to hold on but didn't even know, I wasted it all._  
Breathing heavily Frank started into the enemy camp. He was supposed to follow after, the first line of defense and the anchor for the end. They had all this trust in him, he could not let them down. The others had never let him down. He owed them, all of them a debt he intended to repay this night, against Gaia.  
_I tried so hard, and got so far._  
He tore through the ranks trying to reach the Agro II, he had not seen where she landed while he was fighting. But he would find her, how hard could it been to miss a golden, creaking, dragon headed landlocked ship? He would tear these giants apart to reach the others.  
He had already come this far, he could reach the middle of the camp. He could reach the others for the final assault against Gaia before she awoke fully. He had too.  
"What's this?" the sleepy voice of Gaia surrounded him like a blanket, a sleepy haze fell over him as he tried to run. "A little hero left to fight all on his own. The others were too frightened to stay and fight."  
"I'm not fighting alone," he shouted, trying to shake the haze away.  
"Oh," an earthen figure appeared before him. The sleeping figure blocked his way to the others. "Where are they little hero? You're the only one who has come to face me," she cooed in a sleepy voice.  
"They're coming," he spat at the figure. They would not have left him alone, they were his friends and they were all fighting to finish this war.  
_In spite of the way you were mocking me, acting like I was part of your property._  
"Poor little hero," the figure glided toward him over the smoldering ruins of the plains. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. Your companions have fled before the might of my army. They left you, for your blood to be poured over the Ancient Lands for my reawakening." She laughed, a low earthy growl of a laugh.  
"You're not rising Gaia!" Frank growled as a massive paw tore through the figure, showering him in loose soil as he ran past.  
_Things aren't the way they were before._  
He had to reach the others. He had to help them stop this, they had to win. He could help them, he was the anchor to the plan, the solid foundation that they were depending on, he was just as fundamental to this war as Percy and Jason. He had changed a lot on this trip, and he knew that they were waiting on him, they were depending on him to come for the final assault.  
_You wouldn't even recognize me anymore._  
"No," the fires burned around him, burned in him. What had happened to Hazel and the others? He breathed heavily looking down at his hands. They were burning, he was burning. The world was burning around him.  
"No," he shouted falling to his knees. The fire was too bright, too intense. He fell, face first in the charred grass and ashes, another piece of carnage on the battle field.

* * *

_Pushed as far as I can go.  
_"All of that, to die before reaching the final battle," Frank groaned propping himself up on his elbows. "Such a waste," the man clicked his tongue shaking his head.  
"I did my part," he pushed himself up on his knees looking up at the man. "I gave them the chance they needed."  
"I hate to break it too you kid, but it wasn't enough." The man looked sad at the news, like he hated being the bearer of bad news.  
_I had to fall to lose it all.  
_"No," he felt his heart rate quicken. All of that and it had not been enough. He had not done enough to help them. The war was over, they had lost. The world was going to end, the gods, everything was going to be obliterated.  
"Listen kid," the man sighed.  
"No! That's not—it can't be," he looked pleading up at the man before him. "Everything that we did—It can't all be for nothing!"  
_In the end it doesn't even matter.  
_"I never said it was all for nothing," the god smiled at him. "There are other options."  
"What?"  
"The others have already made their choice," the god smiled at him. "They're waiting for you. How can they continue without you, Mr. Zhang?"  
"I thought," Frank shook his head. "Whatever it is, I'm in."  
The god smiled. "When you find them," he offered his hand to Frank and pulled him from the ground, "be sure to stop Gaia."  
_Sometimes goodbye is a second chance._


	6. Piper- Broken

_The broken clock is a comfort.  
_It felt like she was falling in slow motion. The world was passing around her slowly as she fell back toward the charred ground. Her knife flew from her numb and blacked fingers. The cornucopia slipped from her other hand as her head cracked against the baked ground._  
_How long had they been fighting? How long had it been since she had seen the clear blue sky, when had she last seen the others? Were they still alive, still fighting and trying to reach Leo and the Argo II to begin the final assault?_  
_They must be. If they did not reach the Argo II, they would have lost. And they would not lose. They could not lose. If they lost the world would end, everything would be gone. They had made it, they would defeat Gaia._  
_She took a deep breath and looked up to the sky. The black smoke clouded her vision, blocked out the sun, the moon and stars. Or was that the concussion from smacking her head on the rocky soil? What time of the day was it? What was the haze blocking from her vision?_  
Maybe it can stop tomorrow from stealing all my time.  
_Gasping from the pain Piper brought her hand up so she could look at it. The smell of burnt flesh flooded her senses, even though she could not feel it any more, she could barely even see now. Her eyes were sore, the price for all the tears she had already shed. This fight, she had not been ready for this fight. She had been the only one unprepared for this battle._  
_She was so useless. What had she even done here? Besides offer the others the chance to enter the camp and find Gaia… she had done nothing. They will succeed whether she joined them in the end or not. She had no real skill to offer them._  
I'm falling apart.  
_Her hand fell back to her side. She gave one last shuttering gasp and closed her eyes. At least it was finally over. She had given the others the chance they needed to reach the center of the giant army. She had given them the chance to win this war._  
I'm barely breathing._

* * *

_I tried my best to be guarded.  
_She sat up choking, her airways cleared of the thick black smoke. She doubled over, holding her throat as she tried to get a full breath. Why could she suddenly breathe, and why was her body shutting her down? If she was breathing she should be fine, not suffering more._  
_Where was she anyway?_  
_As her breathing steadied she looked around. She was alone. She was healed and she was alone. Was this what happened in the Underworld? Was this white world part of the Hades' realm? It was not how she had envisioned it._  
_"What is this place?" she managed to choke._  
_"Limbo," a tall man appeared before her. He offered a sad smile watching her. "First stop on your way to the Underworld."_  
_"Why didn't I go to straight to the Judgment Pavilion, down to Underworld? I know I died, why am I in Limbo?"_  
_"Acceptance, that's better than everyone else."_  
_"Everyone," her breath caught again as she looked up at the god. "But, they were supposed to reach the center of the camp. They were supposed to stop her, they," she felt tears welling in her eyes. She was amazed she still had tears to shed. "We were supposed to save Olympus and the gods."_  
_"I know you did you're best, but sometimes, it just doesn't work out like you hoped."_  
I'm an open book instead.  
_"I could have done more," she gasped staring at the ground. "I should have done more. I barely did anything."_  
_"You played you're part," Hades smiled reassuringly. "You did what they needed you to do. You can be proud of that."_  
_"I didn't do anything," she snapped at Hades. "I've barely done anything this entire trip. And I died from smoke inhalation and burns."_  
_"Frank died in the fire too. Leo was buried alive before anyone made through the giant army," Hades shrugged. "Annabeth suffered from smoke inhalation."_  
_"Is this supposed to make me feel better?" Piper wiped the tears from her eyes. "I messed up."_  
I'm barely breathing.  
_"This isn't the time for self-pity."_  
_"I died, I've got the rest of eternity to wallow in self-pity!" she choked turning away from the god. "Just send me on to whatever comes next."_  
_"The others won't be there."_  
_"You said they died," she wiped her cheeks again, folding her arms over her chest. "We lost, there's nothing else."_  
_"Reincarnation," Hades answered the unasked question, watching Piper's back carefully. "Everyone else agreed to it. They've gone on to fight again." He pointed over his shoulder, as if to say they had gone behind Hades himself._  
_"They went back?" she turned back to face Hades. They had already lost, reincarnation would have them reborn just as Gaia destroyed the world, destroyed everything. "Why would they do that? We could have spent the rest of the time we have, together in Elysium."_  
_"They don't think they've lost. They went back to try again."_  
_Piper shook her head, "how? They would never make it to the fight. And even if they did, can you promise we'll even be able to?"_  
_"There are some things not even the gods can do."_  
I'm hanging on another day just to see what you throw my way.  
_"So if I go back, if I agree to this, I'll get to fight Gaia again?" she looked pleadingly up at Hades. _  
_If she agreed, she could rejoin the fight. She could do something useful, and help Jason and the others defeat Gaia. She could prove herself, she could prove that she was capable and worthy of this mission. _  
_She gasped coming to her feet, taking Hades' hands in her own. "I'll do it! I need to go back to help them."_  
In your name, I find meaning.  
_"It's still going to be a challenge. You'll have to find them."_  
_"I'll remember them, won't I?"_  
_"I can't promise that. This is still rebirth; I can't bend the rules for you or any of the others."_  
_"But it's still a chance. I have to take that chance. We have to stop Gaia."_  
_Hades smiled, "That's what I wanted to hear."_  
_"Where will they be?"_  
_"I don't know. But when you find them, be sure to stop Gaia."_  
_Piper smiled as the door opened beside the Lord of the Dead. She took a deep breath and started on. She had to find the others, they could stop Gaia and she was going to make sure she did more the second time around._  
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance._


	7. Hazel- It Ends Tonight

"Frank! I'm going on ahead," Hazel called as they separated to infiltrate the campsite of the giant army as she ran toward the fire Leo had set before dropping them off.  
"Just be careful," Frank shouted after her. She smiled, holding her hand up in farewell and ran into the flames. This could possibly be the last time she would see him or the others. She knew the risks of going into this fight. They all knew the risks.  
_Your subtleties, they strangle me, I can't explain myself at all._  
She ran for cover, she would begin the fighting using the Mist, she could be further away from the fighting to do her part. She could stay further from the flames. Her hand idly brushed over the inner pocket where she kept the fireproof pouch. She would protect that always, if Frank died this night it would be with a valiant show of strength. Hazel would make sure of that, and she'd also make sure the others reached Gaia.  
_All the wants and all the needs, I don't want to need at all._  
The manipulation of the Mist was not enough; Hecate was not with Hazel as she had promised. Exhausted Hazel pulled her spatha and took a deep breath. She would have to resort to a physical attack. She was not expecting much to happen, if Hecate had already abandoned her, she doubted the other gods would help her slay the agents of Gaia. But she had to do something, the fight was unfinished.  
Hazel took a deep breath and tore from her cover, running doubled over as she moved closer to the remnants of Leo's fire. The giants had moved inward, they thought all their foes had been defeated. If the situation had been slightly less dire, Hazel would have laughed at their assumptions. But as it was, she was glad none of them were expecting someone else to be covering the rear.  
Her grip tightened on the hilt of her spatha as she entered the fires. They were still burning brightly, even without a source. As she ran toward the center of the camp she marveled at the intensity of the flames over the scorched and blackened ground. This place would be scarred forever, and the mortals would never know what had happened.  
_The walls start breathing, my minds unweaving._  
Her fear began to take hold as she fought. Her fears had always controlled her. She had always allowed them to rule her. But not now, she was different now. She had friends, people who believed in her, they were counting on her. She was in control this time; she had learned to master her fears.  
The spatha proved a poor weapon choice. It cut through the flesh of the monsters that charged her, but not enough. Or perhaps it was just her, the exhaustion of fighting wave after wave of the endless monsters and the giants. They never seemed to end, how had the others fought these things off? How did they manage this all the time, how could Percy and Jason find this enjoyable?  
It felt like days after she started fighting that a monster knocked her spatha from her weakened grip. The weapon spun end over end toward the fires, the creature that tore it from her hands grinned with malice at her. Hazel barred her teeth and tore into the monster with magic, the last of the magic she could manage.  
She gasped for breath as she fell to her knees. She managed to fall back instead of on her face, a laid spread eagle as Leo's fires moved in toward her, consuming the monsters in its wake. She lay there waiting, she was completely exhausted, her whole body ached from the cuts she had sustained; she doubted she could move again.  
She opened her eyes looking through the haze at the sky. Hours, she had been fighting for hours and hours. The sun had set around them and she had failed to notice. The fires crawled closer to her, and through the smoke she could see the stars.  
_A falling star, least I fall alone._  
She managed to smile, she even laughed as one last monster stood over her. It was covered in the flames that had scorched the plains. It growled down at her, it must have been as exhausted as she was.  
Hazel gasped in pain as the monster fell on top of her. The fire jumped on her, tearing in to her flesh and consuming her. She was too tired to scream, tears streamed down her face as she felt the flames devour her. Somewhere in the distance she heard someone yelling, and she knew it was Frank. She had his life in her hands, and she was dying.  
_A weight is lifted on this evening._

* * *

_When darkness turns to light, it ends tonight.  
_"I see you sacrificed yourself again," Pluto sat back in his chair, his fingers drumming on the arm as he looked down upon his daughter._  
_"I had too," Hazel answered looking up at the god. "It was what I was meant to do."_  
_"You were meant to die?" The god asked quietly. "It seems a waste that Nico saved you just so you could die again."_  
_"I didn't just die again!" Hazel snapped, her hands clenching at her sides, "I gave everyone the chance they needed. I was part of something to stop what my mother started before!"_  
_"And that sacrifice stopped that kid of Mars from reaching the final battle beside Percy and Jason. That sacrifice was the undoing of the entire plan you wanted so badly to be a part of."_  
_"My death didn't off set the entire plan. It couldn't have destroyed everything we worked so hard for."_  
_"If you say so," Pluto shrugged crossing his legs and leaning further back in his chair. "So, are you going to rejoin them?"_  
_"I've already died twice. I think I've had enough," Hazel sank down to her knees, her head falling. "And it's not like they'll need me now."_  
_Pluto frowned looking down at her, "they needed you before. Why wouldn't they need you now?"_  
_"Whatever they're doing, they can manage without me," she breathed. "I'm just bad luck."_  
Just a little insight won't make this right.  
_"You really think that?" the god raised his brow at Hazel, but she did not look up at him. "I thought you had learned by now."_  
_"You said it yourself, I'm just sacrificial. I don't want to just die again."_  
_"And you said that you played a greater part in all of this," he waved his hand to encompass the room where they sat._  
_She looked up to see the smiling faces of her friends. Percy with his arm draped over Annabeth's shoulder, Jason and Piper beside them. Leo, grinning like an idiot. And Frank, a small smile pulling at his lips. She knew them so well, and as she watched them they separated and changed. They stood apart, still smiling as the images circled her._  
_"What happened to them?"_  
_"They all wanted another chance to save us foolish Olympians, who abandoned them at the time of their greatest need."_  
_"They all went back. But they're not the same."_  
_"There are some things not even the gods can do."_  
_"What have you done to them?"_  
_"Nothing, they made their own decisions, each and every one of them."_  
_She looked around at them again. So familiar and yet so foreign, and they chose that? They would do anything to stop Gaia, even forget each other and their lives. _  
It ends tonight.  
_"You really think I'd be useful?"_  
_"Do you think you are?" he returned, leaning in toward Hazel._  
_Hazel clenched her fists and came up to her feet. She would go back, she would find them and help them again. She was part of them, and as she made her decision the images smiled at her, and reached their hands out to her._  
_Pluto smiled, flashing over to Hades and came to his feet. "When you find them, be sure to stop Gaia."_  
Sometimes goodbye is a second chance._

* * *

**A/N This is the end of the first half. As I have reached the end of this section I need to give credit where credit is do.  
****Chapter 1- Song _Second Chance_ by Shinedown  
****Chapter 2- Song _Untitled (How Could This Happen to Me)_ by Simple Plan  
****Chapter 3- Song _Welcome to the Black Parade_ by My Chemical Romance  
****Chapter 4- Song _It's Not My Time by 3 Doors Down  
_****Chapter 5- Song _In The End_ by Linkin Park  
****Chapter 6- Song _Broken_ by Lifehouse  
****Chapter 7- Song _It Ends Tonight_ by The All-American Rejects  
Hope you've enjoyed the first part and join me again for the second half.**


	8. Percy- You Found Me

The tang of blood filled the air. Breathlessly he ran, lungs burning, eyes stinging from the sweat and blood dripping in them. He clutched a sword tightly in his hand, the hilt familiarly comfortable in his grasp. It should be, how many times had he gone to battle with only this sword? But he was not trained as a swordsman; he could not use this weapon.  
He stopped, his breathing ragged as he looked around him. This place, it was familiar as well. He had been here before, he could remember it. But at the same time he could not, his whole life seemed to be blurred. His and not his all at once.  
_I found god. _  
"It seems you struck a deal with Hades," he turned to face the man who had spoken to him. A tall man, with dark hair and eyes the color of the ocean. He knew this man. He had seen this man before in one of the blurred lives. This man was important in that life, the one that seemed like a dream to him now.  
_All alone, smoking his last cigarette._  
The man was leaning against the wall of this strange room. Beside them stood a giant seat off of a fishing boat, a fisherman's cap hung from an arm, covered in lures of all sizes. The man frowned looking down at him.  
"I had too," he responded to the man, frowning in return. He knew that was the correct answer to the comment. He had to make a deal with Hades, it had been the only way. Because this man, this god, had not been there like he had promised.  
His hand clenched tightly at his side, his knuckles deathly pale and slowly regaining color. The dream was too vivid, he knew it had really happened; he would not have been able to imagine all of that. But it could not have happened to him; he had never fought monsters, stood tall in the face of danger. He had never sacrificed himself for the sake of others.  
_I said, "where you been?" He said, "ask anything."_  
"You weren't there." He seethed staring down at the ground between the two of them. "We were alone."  
The nightmare played before his eyes, the past life haunting the mind of this new person: the fires burning; a ship falling from the skies and swallowed by the earth; a girl's defiant screams as they took her; his own life fading in a blinding flash of light. He could smell the sulfur of the fires, feel the burn of a weapon tear through his flesh. The nightmare threatened to overpower him, but he gritted his teeth and turned back to the god.  
"Where were you, when everything was falling apart? All we needed was for one of you to show up. All my life—all of that that life—was wasted," his hand tightened around the hilt of the sword, his nails digging in the soft flesh of his palm. "Why'd you have to wait?"  
_Where were you?_  
His eyes stung as he felt the tears pooling in them. He was crying like a child before this stranger. Before this stranger who was more friend than he wanted to accept. He was suffering through this world—through this overlapping life because this man had failed to answer his pleas in that nightmare.  
"It wasn't my place to come," the man answered, a sadness filling his eyes. The man turned from him, looking at the ground. "I had my own battle, my own realm to safeguard."  
"And what about me?!" he screamed at the god. "I was your son. You said I was the favorite, you said you would be there for me!"  
"Zeus was supposed to be there. Athena was supposed to be there. Ares, Hephaestus, Aphrodite; they were supposed to be there," the man began to shout as he listed off the gods who had abandoned them on the plains of Greece; left them to fight alone against impossible odds.  
_In the end, everyone ends up alone._  
"And Poseidon," Percy's fist clenched at his side drawing blood as he looking up at his father, his father from that nightmare, not the father he knew now. "You were all supposed to be there, we needed the help of the gods to defeat the Titans, we needed our parents and they turned a blind eye."  
"We did not," Poseidon drew himself up taller, growing several inches in the process. "The titans were attacking our realms. We were fighting against ourselves, and against one another."  
"And you all made a promise to help." Percy's stepped back from the god, shaking his head. "Now we're even worse off than before. I don't know where anyone is. I don't know how much they remember, if they remember anything. And we'll have to get back to Greece, somehow and hope it's not too late to stop her." At some point he had started shouting.  
It felt good to shout at the god, and the paternal figure of the nightmare world. It made him feel like he was in control, that he finally had the upper hand. For once he felt like that dream-nightmare world was a real thing and he was good enough to be that hero. He could have come from there.  
"All because you decided one realm was of greater importance than the whole world!"  
Poseidon took a deep breath, squaring his shoulders and puffing out his chest while glaring down at him; but he said nothing. Slowly Poseidon deflated and fell back against the giant fisherman's chair with a heavy sigh. "You're right."  
_Lost and insecure, you found me._  
"Help me," Percy looked up at his father with pleading eyes. "Help me find them, get us back to Greece."  
"I can't," Poseidon shook his head miserably. "Zeus has called us back to Olympus. He barred us from fighting Gaia."  
"That's where we are?" Percy looked around the room, the details coming into focus. Thirteen thrones stood around them, the seats of the Olympic Council. Another part of the nightmare, he had almost died here several times in that life. "Where are the other gods?"  
Poseidon turned away from Percy, looking over the throne room, his eyes resting on Zeus' chair. "They're looking for the others."  
_Just a little late, you found me._  
"How convenient," Percy sighed turning away from Poseidon.  
"Where are you going?"  
"To try and find them. We have unfinished business in the Ancient Lands."  
_Why'd you have to wait to find me?_


	9. Annabeth- Once Upon A December

The pages of the book turned rapidly in her shaking hands. She felt like her head was going to explode and the answer to the problem was in this book. She knew it was this book, but she could not begin to imagine how she knew. It was also odd she had turned to a book for the answer. Normally she refused to read anything besides tabloids and her homework out of hand. She was not a book-worm-freak-nerd; she was cool, and awesome, and popular, and did not need to know mythology.  
But her head was threatening to burst because of something. She had to know what it was. And through the throbbing she determined one thing: Mythology was important for her safety of her aching head. The best place to learn about the mythology was the library.  
The pages blurred together, pictures flashed by, paragraphs merged and her head throbbed with renewed intensity. Suddenly she stopped, the picture before her was a pegasus. Not just a pegasus, the Pegasus. Her breath caught in her throat looking at the picture.  
_Dancing bears, painted wings, things I almost remember._  
"Blackjack," she breathed running her fingers across the picture, a pure black pegasus flew across her mind's eye. And someone was riding him. The headache subsided momentarily, in her vision she could see a boy on the pegasus. He smiled at her, holding his hand out. She trusted him, she had no idea who he was; but she trusted him.  
He had never let her down. She had never let him down. They were partners and he was calling out to her.  
But who was he?  
_Someone holds me safe and warm._  
She knew him.  
The headache returned in full force, crippling her. She flinched rubbing her temples trying to remember the boy on the pegasus. She really did know him, how could she not know the boy how had smiled so kindly at her? The boy who had protected her without fail?  
_Horses prance through a silver storm._  
Except he had failed, he had not been able to protect her, once.  
She took a deep breath sitting up and closing the book. She was in this mess because he had failed one time. And it was not his fault; extraordinary circumstances had led to their separation and this roaring headache.  
She leaned back against the bookshelf closing her eyes. She could see it, the boy smiling at her as he brandished a sword. She smiled back holding a knife in her own hand. Fires roared around them, monsters surrounded them. And she had been unafraid so long as he had stood beside her.  
_Figures dancing gracefully, across my memory._  
And the fighting started. They moved in perfect harmony twirling and spinning in a deadly dance, moving in a rhythm and pattern they had mastered at a young age. She saw all of it flying in her mind's eye, years of the practiced dance. It was terrifying, but she had seen this all before.  
That had been her life.  
_Far away, long ago, glowing dim as an ember._  
"It seems nothing could keep you from the library."  
She jumped turning around. A woman stood over her, her long raven hair falling in waves around her shoulders. The woman stared down at her with stormy grey eyes, compassion mingling with confusion, anger and sorrow. Another figure she knew, she had seen her in the mythology book.  
"It was the only way to stop the headache," she breathed closing her eyes again and leaning back against the bookshelf. "It's like there's something in there, trying to get out."  
"It's my fault," the woman sighed, it seemed an unnatural expression from this proud woman. "I was spiteful against the others, choosing not to descend upon the Ancient Lands because Zeus said I should, while he sat in Olympus and did nothing."  
The headache lessened as the woman knelt beside her. She shook her head, why was this woman taking the blame for their demise? What did she have to do with it?  
She knew what this woman had to do with that life. Athena was her mother in the place with that boy riding the pegasus. And the girl who fought with the knife, that was her. But she was not that girl.  
She had never fought monsters. She had never sailed the ocean, flew across the skies, or traversed the vast underworld in a labyrinth. She was a normal kid, with a normal life, and this woman was not her mother.  
_Things my heart used to know. Things it yearns to remember._  
"No," she managed to whisper. "It's not your fault."  
"It is."  
She turned again, looking behind Athena to a boy. He had shaggy black hair, blue-green eyes that looked to be fighting between the two colors, and a smile she clearly remembered. He stood behind Athena, looking past the goddess at her. She knew all he saw was her.  
"Did your father tell you where to find me?" Athena stood turning around the face the boy.  
"I don't care about you, I came for Annabeth." He glared at Athena, "And Poseidon doesn't have to tell me how to find her." He walked past Athena, stopped before her holding his hand out. "Come on Wisegirl."  
_And a song someone sings, once upon a December._  
As her hand slipped into his, the headache vanished. Her mind cleared as she came to her feet and she smiled. This was right, even if everything else was a lie she knew this was right.  
"Seaweed Brain," she wrapped her arms around him. "When we got separated I thought it was the end. I thought we'd lost everything."  
"Not a chance," Percy smiled, holding her tightly.  
"Isn't this touching," Athena smiled.  
"Very," Percy pulled away from Annabeth and started down the aisle. "Now it's time to go."  
"I'll meet you on the plains," Athena watched them go.  
"I hope so," Percy threw over his shoulder. "It'll be more than last time."  
"They did abandon us," the realization struck Annabeth like a physical blow. She had lived her whole life—all of that life—thinking that when it came right down to it, the gods did care for their children. Now she was seeing two worlds collide, because the gods had left them for dead in the Ancient Lands.  
"Except Hades," Percy sighed. "But even he was too late to do much."  
"He gave us this chance," Annabeth sped up so she was beside Percy. "And I have a plan."  
"I knew you would," Percy smiled at her briefly.  
As they left Annabeth turned back to face her mother. If Athena had cared so much when they flew for the Ancient Lands, why had she left them alone the first time? But Athena must have cared; she had come to find her now.  
Annabeth held Percy's hand tightly and walked out on the busy sidewalk.  
_Why'd you have to wait to find me?_


	10. Jason- Carry On

_Well I woke up to the sound of silence, and cries were cutting like knives in a fist fight.  
_He took a deep breath looking around the empty room. He could hear the cries, the defiant shouts of people at war, and it was more than just the news reports about the unrest in the Middle East. He released the held breath slowly, pushing himself out of his seat._  
_He had to go. He did not know where he had to go exactly, but he knew there was no time to sit here watching the news. He crossed the room quickly, passing empty tables with upturned chairs. Just as he was about to walk through the door he noticed someone at the bar._  
And I found you with a bottle of wine, your head in the curtains.  
_"Um, sir. We're closed," he offered, his hand resting on the knob. The man at the bar gave a shuddering laugh, shaking his head as he lifted his glass._  
_"Sixteen years," he laughed. "It took sixteen years for me to see you, and that's what you say to me." The man's dark head shook again, he downed the contents of his glass and slammed it on the table, beside another full glass. "Maybe I deserve it. I've never been a good father," he emptied his second glass in one drink._  
_"I'm sorry, sir. I think you have me confused with someone else," he moved from the door toward the bar. "How much have you had to drink?" the man was surrounded by upturned glasses, well past his reach on either side of him._  
_The man snorted, draining another glass that was waiting for him on the bar. "Not enough," he answered staring at the empty glass in his hand, turning it slowly before him. "Thousands of years' worth of the strongest drinks imaginable and it's never been enough."_  
_"I think you have," he took the empty glass from the man's hand, and the new full one that appeared on the bar. "And we're closed, so you need to go."_  
You swore and said, "We are not, we are not shining stars."  
_"Tell me kid, what are you doing here?"_  
_"Leaving," he answered, taking hold of the man's arm and hauling him to his feet. "It's too early for you to be drinking. It's too early for anyone to be drinking, that's why we're closed and both of us are leaving."_  
_The man laughed as he stumbled across the room. "Strong little brat aren't you?"_  
_He threw the door open and started the toss the man out, but his hand was empty. He turned around to find the man sitting at the bar once again, another glass held in his hand as he stared at the amber contents._  
_"All my children are strong. They don't need help," he drained the glass. "I never had to worry about them; even though I should have."_  
_"Why don't you go find your children, and tell them that," he crossed the room taking the drunken man by the arm once again._  
_"I just did," the man turned his electric blue eyes on him. "I only have two, and the other one has told me under no uncertain terms does she need me. But you, you have never been like Thalia."_  
This I know, I never said we are.  
_The name tore through him like lightning, and the feeling was not terrifying. Lightning was a comforting experience, and it was something that he had only just realized. What did bother him was that he did not anyone named Thalia._  
_"She's a tough one, that Thalia," he sighed draining another glass. _  
_They were back at the bar, this time he had a drink in his hand as well. He looked down in shock at the glass in his hand, then back to the man. When had this happened?_  
_"You know, it used to be a boy became a man at fifteen. Poseidon came to his son's fifteenth birthday."_  
_"Poseidon?" he asked slowly setting the glass down untouched. "Like the Greek god?"_  
_"I guess Hades did all he could. At least you're here, I suppose," the man sighed. "Jason, I'm sorry for everything, especially leaving you in Greece to fight against the giants alone."_  
_Jason. He was Jason. He had always been Jason, but how could this man know that? He had never seen this man before. And the man was acting like he knew him._  
_"I think you've got me confused with someone else. I've never left the States, and there aren't any giants."_  
_The man snorted again, "of course not. But you only think that because you're not my Jason; not yet anyway."_  
_"I think you're confused."_  
_"I am not," the man thundered, pounding his fist on the bar. "I am Zeus, Lord of the Skies, Head of the Olympic Council."_  
_"Zeus is just a myth," Jason shook his head, needing to explain to this man but not wanting to upset him further. "You're drunk, you need to go home and sleep this off, and tell your family all that stuff you were telling me."_  
_"I most certainly am not a myth," the air crackled with electricity around them. It was comforting. "I have come to offer advice before that child of Poseidon shows up and starts flaunting all the good deeds he's accomplished, making it impossible for me to blast him."_  
_"What?"_  
_"That and Poseidon made me promise I couldn't," Zeus waved the comment aside, picking up another drink off the bar. "So did Hera, though I don't know why."_  
If you're lost and alone, or you're sinking like a stone, carry on.  
_"Tell me about the war," Zeus leaned over the bar, holding his head up with his free hand as he looked at Jason. _  
_"You should have been there," Jason sighed leaning over the bar with his arms crossed. "We thought Bacchus would be there, he had helped us on our way to Rome," the tale spilled from his lips before he knew what was happening. And even though he had no idea where the tale came from, it felt right and it rang of truth._  
_"But we were alone, until Hades gave us this chance."_  
So I met up with some friends at the edge of the night.  
_They turned from the bar to see a boy standing in the door, the one Jason had forgotten to close after Zeus slipped from his grasp. The boy crossed the room glaring at Zeus, his fists clenched at his sides. Zeus sighed, draining another glass._  
_"Taking lessons from Mr. D?" the boy asked, looking down the bar at the multitude of emptied glasses. "Or did he get it from you?"_  
_"Go away. I'm having a private conversation with my son."_  
_Percy glared at Zeus, his eyes floating between blue and green. "If you cared so much, why didn't you come to the Ancient Lands?"_  
_"The Roman gods care little for their children. I had thought you learned that during your time at the Roman Camp."_  
And it's nice to know when I was left for dead. I was found now I don't roam these streets.  
_"The fate of the world is hanging in the balance, and you're sticking with that?" Percy shook his head, taking hold of Jason by the arm. "Come on, Annabeth's waiting."_  
_"I regret that, Percy Jackson. But I couldn't do anything to seem weak."_  
_"Compassion is not a weakness," Percy stopped half way across the room and turned back to the god at the bar. "I thought you had learned that by now."_  
_"Why have you come back for him? You have Annabeth, shouldn't that be enough?"_  
May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground, carry on.  
_"The prophecy called for seven heroes. I had to find them all once, now I'll do it again," Percy narrowed his gaze at Zeus. "It's something I shouldn't have to repeat."_  
_"Don't lecture me Percy Jackson!" Zeus thundered, lightning flashing around him. "I understand responsibility. I am the King of the Gods! I am the almighty Zeus!"_  
_"Who needs the inference of mortals to save you!"_  
_"Stop it," Jason shouted, pulling himself free of Percy's grip. "This isn't helping anything!" Jason took a deep breath, closing his eyes._  
_All this arguing had caused a headache. It seemed that Percy was not a fan of Zeus. And the feeling was mutual. Jason did not have the energy to sort it out, there were more important things to discuss._  
_"Will you join us in the Ancient Lands?" he turned to the god._  
_"So long as the others come, I will be there."_  
_"No, regardless of the decision of the other Olympians, I want to know: are you going to come?"_  
_"I'll do my best."_  
Show me how no one's ever gonna stop us now, cause here we are, we are shinning stars.  
_"Come on Jason. Annabeth's waiting."_  
_The demigods turned from Zeus, leaving the Lord of the Skies to his endless glasses of liquor. Out on the street Jason saw the blonde heroine leaning against an ancient Volkswagen bus painted in memory of the 60's. She was dressed differently than he remembered, but the air of the blonde waiting for them could only be Annabeth._  
_"What is that?" He was unsure if he was asking about the bus or Annabeth's drastic wardrobe change. Mini-skirts, button downs and fashion ties were not what Jason could ever consider functional. Percy took it as asking about the bus._  
_"This guy is really into the sixties," Percy answered, pulling a key out of his pocket. "At least I think he is. It's all a little fuzzy."_  
_"Is this Jason?" Annabeth asked pushing herself off of the bus, her arms folding across her chest._  
_"Yea," Percy clapped Jason on the shoulder. "Zeus was in there, this has to be Jason."_  
On our darkest days, when we're miles away; sun will come, we'll find our way home.  
_"Then come on, we have to go find the others," Annabeth opened the door to let Jason climb in first._  
_As the door was pulled closed behind him, Jason looked back at the bar where his father was drinking. Sixteen years; Zeus had said it took sixteen years for him to come for a visit. If he had come sooner would they have lost the fight with Gaia the first time?_  
Why'd you have to wait to find me?_


	11. Leo- Ready to Fall

The heat of the sun was unbearable. In his semi-professional opinion, it should be illegal to anything when the temperature reaches the plus side of 110˚. And he would be in the only place in the world lacking a shade tree on the hottest day in million years.  
Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but the meteorologist had said it was a record high that morning before he left the house. Of course that would never stop him, why would a record high in the middle of July stop him from doing the work?  
It would not. It never has. And, sadly, it never will.  
He wiped his brow with the collar of his cut off shirt, leaning back in his seat. What he would give for some shade. And a refill on his water cooler, he sighed looking down at the empty cooler by his feet. It was the hottest day in forever, and he was already out of water.  
That meant it was time for a break. In his semi-professional opinion, everything stopping progress meant it was time for a break. And he was too hot to work without water.  
"To the truck!" he grinned shutting off his tractor and leaping out of the seat into the freshly cut hay. The truck had a cooler filled with soft drinks, and a lunch box. Not only that, but he could retreat to the house to refill his empty water cooler with the truck, and sit in the air conditioning, and possibly been done with hay for the rest of the day. Days setting record highs were not days to spend only on the tractor, they deserved a trip to the lake, or at least the pond.  
He jog-walked to where he had left the truck that morning, imagining the refreshing taste of soda running down his throat and the satisfying full-feeling he would get from the bologna sandwich waiting for him. He grinned stupidly as he crossed the field. And stopped when he saw someone was sitting on the edge of the truck bed.  
The man was defiantly not what anyone would describe as handsome; average-looking was outside the realm of possibilities too. He was big, slightly overweight, bald, covered in scars and grease. He wore leathers and a sleeveless, much like he would if he was wielding.  
The man offered a can of soda to him, grunting.  
"Who are you?" He asked guardedly, stopping several feet away from the truck. "You're trespassing, this farm is private property."  
"Do you want a drink or not?" the man tossed the can at him.  
He caught the can, staring at the man skeptically. He was hardly a frail little weakling, but even he knew better than to tangle with a burly man. And this man was burly as they came, with muscle hiding all over his person. This man was not someone to take lightly.  
"How'd you find this field?" he was three miles from the nearest road, through thick forest and uphill, this place was close to impossible to find. "And how'd you get here?"  
"You called kid. I didn't answer last time, so I thought I'd try harder now."  
"I didn't call anyone."  
"Not you, the other you," the man waved his hand and looked just to his left.  
Out of his peripheral, for just a moment, he saw someone who could have been his twin. But when he turned to get a better look, the image was gone. "What? What other me?"  
"My son, the one who built the battle ship to sail the Seven to the Ancient Lands," the man shrugged, adjusting slightly on the edge of the bed.  
_Hold on, slow down, again from the top now, and tell me everything._  
"We lost that fight," he sighed looking down at the can the god had tossed him. "I must have been the first one to die."  
"Couldn't tell you, and honestly I don't care about the details. I'm just here for one reason."  
"And what's that?"  
"To make sure you remember and go find everyone else," the god looked up at him, locking their eyes. "Like you said, this place is hard to find."  
"They all agreed?" he had thought maybe Percy and Annabeth would agree to this, possibly Jason, but he had thought the others would just go on. Especially Hazel, she had already escaped the Underworld once, he had been sure she would just stay after dying a second time. "They all came back?"  
"That's what Hades told me," the god shrugged. "I've never been one to trust Hades, but the other gods have gone in search of their children. I thought I'd join them."  
"I thought you didn't really do 'people'," he air-quoted people, remembering the brief conversation he had shared with Hephaestus as the demi-god, Leo.  
"I'm not a personable person, but I have a duty to my children. In particular the ones who risked everything to try and save us Olympians," the god sighed. "So, I've sent a signal out to Percy, he's looking for you in that town close by."  
"Which one?" there were three towns close by, in relative terms.  
"The important one," the god answered, and in a flash of blinding light he was gone.  
The day suddenly seemed to cool off.

* * *

Leo stretched climbing out of the old beater he had just made the hour drive in. It would have been better if there had been air, decent suspension, and the car ran a little quieter. But it had gotten him this far, so he could force himself to keep the complaints to a minimum.  
Now all he had to do was figure out where in this place Percy was waiting for him. Where would the Son of Poseidon be when he was only partially the Son of Poseidon? Or where would they be looking for whoever he had been before? He could remember the others, but everything about who he had been was fuzzy.  
It must have been a complicated life, or painful, making the current one the better thing to remember. That however, was not helping him find Percy and whoever was with him. He rolled his shoulders, stepping away from the car and slamming the door shut. Hopefully someone would come pick her up; she was a beater, but she was still a decent back-up vehicle.  
"Where o where could Percy be?" He asked himself starting down the street. "And who could he possibly have with him?"  
He walked around for what felt like hours, staring at cars as they drove past him, waiting for one of them to pull over like some white kidnapper's van in the movies and open up to reveal Percy and the others waiting to haul him in and get him back to the Ancient Lands. Nothing even remotely close happened, and he was beginning to think he had chosen the wrong town, again.  
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. If this adventure failed to pan out into something, he'd have a lot of explaining to do. Having an imagination was one thing, but running off because of it was unacceptable.  
Maybe he was just crazy. That guy, he had just appeared in that field and vanished the same way. And it had been really hot that day, he could be seeing things because of the heat and he had been out of water. And who names a kid Percy anyway?  
_I know I've been gone for what seems like forever, but I'm here now waiting._  
He slipped into a pizza parlor around dusk. He was hungry and pizza had always been a good option. As he crossed the parking lot he saw an ancient Volkswagen bus that looked like it had been used as cover for a paintball war. It was a shame what people did to classics, he shook his head as he passed the bus. Not only that, but there would be hippies is the pizza place.  
There were only three people inside besides the workers. A high-maintenance chick in up-to-the-minute fashions, her blonde hair was pulled in a tight braid like Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider, which failed to match the rest of her appearance. A guy sporting a tie-dye shirt and khaki shorts, his long dark hair swept to the side like a skater-dude's from the late 00's. The third was a guy in jeans and a t-shirt; he was the only normal looking one of the group.  
They stopped their conversation when he walked in, the two guys watched him as he crossed the room toward them. He tried to ignore them, but he had always hated being scrutinized, and he had the distinct impression that was exactly what was happening. Finally the girl turned around to face him, her grey eyes narrowed.  
He had the feeling he knew them. In that past life he was suppressing, he knew these three. Something about the no-nonsense air the trio was giving off reminded him of someone, or a few people. It reminded him of Jason, of Annabeth when they were in the middle of a drastic situation. Of Percy just before they engaged in a fight.  
_To convince you that I'm not a ghost or a stranger, but closer than you think._  
"Can we help you?" the girl snapped when he stood at their table.  
"It's me. I found you."  
The girl smiled, looking over her shoulder at her companions, "we're we looking for scrawny rednecks?"  
The blonde boy shrugged, the other leaned back in his seat with a crooked grin pulling at his lips. "Hephaestus said he'd be here."  
"Hephaestus sent me, he said Percy was here, looking for me."  
"Me, is a vague term," the blonde shook his head. "We're not looking for a 'Me', are we?" he looked at the girl.  
_Wings won't take me, heights don't faze me, so take a step. Don't look down, take a step._  
"I'm Leo. I mean, I was Leo," his shoulders slumped. He had been Leo, but he remembered nothing about it.  
"You were Leo?" the girl's brow arched. "You mean you're not anymore?"  
"Give him a break. I mean, it's not like you're Annabeth anymore," Percy grinned.  
"Yes I am, Kelp for Brains," she turned her glare at Percy.  
"Sit with us," Jason kicked a chair away from the table.  
_Now I'm standing on the rooftop, ready to fall._  
"So now that we've found Leo, what's our next move," Jason pushed himself forward, his arms folded on the table.  
"We still have to find the other three," Percy answered shrugging. "Then we have to get back to Greece."  
"And how do you plan to get to Greece. We don't have passports, and none of us have the cash to spend on seven trans-Atlantic flights."  
"We don't have time to see the faults in the plan," Percy shook his head. "We have a small window of opportunity here."  
"That's why we need a plan."  
_Perpetual motion, the image won't focus, a blur is all that's seen._  
Had they always been this way? Leo could not remember Percy and Annabeth ever fighting. But, he was having a real problem with remembering anything about being Leo. Maybe this was part of the reason he did not remember, he hated confrontation and therefore left all of that behind him.  
But he had to remember, he had to accept and remember all of it. He was a part of this, and they needed the Leo who had first gone with them to Greece. That Leo was necessary for them to return to Greece.  
Percy was right; they had a limited time to do this.  
He had to get it together, at least until they reached the Ancient Lands and stopped Gaia. Then, well then maybe he could go back home and things could return to normal. At least as normal as things could be for an orphan like him.  
No, he had a normal life. That other person, he had the messed up life. Leo had the sad life, constantly leaving, running away and trying to start over.  
Leo was insane and had the devious plots. Okay, maybe not devious but he had some pretty out-there ideas.  
_Here in this moment like the eye of a storm, it all came clear to me.  
_"It's Hazel," he breathed in excitement, the realization crashing into him like a wave.  
"What?" the other three turned to him.  
"We need Hazel. She can get the Argo II back."  
"How?"  
_I think I'm at the edge now, but I could be wrong.  
_"If we still have our powers, if she can still summon things through the Earth, she can call the Agro II back to us."  
"How do you know?" Percy leaned forward, watching him closely.  
"Gaia made the earth swallow the ship. It's still there, waiting for us."  
"Don't you think Gaia would notice if the Argo II suddenly started moving."  
"Do you have a better plan?" he turned on Annabeth, his eyes narrowing. "All I heard was the three of you fighting over the lack of a plan."  
_I count the times that I've been sorry. Now my compassion slowly drowns.  
_"He's right," Jason frowned stroking his chin. "It's the only idea we've got."  
"But it took weeks for us to reach Greece the last time," Percy shook his head. "How are we supposed to get back before the giants fully awaken Gaia?"  
"I don't think she can be woken yet," Annabeth pursed her lips. "It should have already happened. When our blood was spilled over the Ancient Lands she should have had the ability to be reborn. That was why the Gods did not want us to sail to the Ancient Lands in the first place."  
"So what? Since we didn't actually die, she still unable to be awakened?"  
"I think so, but I don't know why it worked that way." Annabeth's fingers drummed on the table.  
"It must have been Hades," Leo tried not to recoil from the sudden attention everyone was giving him. "He must have pulled us all out before we actually died, he saw we were losing and tried to give us another chance."  
"So we're starting over," Annabeth shook her head. "Great."  
She stood and left the table, Percy and Jason both sighed as they scooted away from the table. They followed after the blonde with heavy sighs, leaving Leo sitting at the table. He had come to try and help them, and this was what he was walking into?  
_I'm standing on the rooftop, ready to fall.  
_He pushed his chair back and moved to follow after them. As he crossed the room again, he saw Hephaestus sitting at a corner booth. The god raised a cup to him, a small smile showing on his face. Leo stopped for a moment, looking at the god before starting after the others.  
"Good luck," he heard the god grunt.  
_Why'd you have to wait to find me?_


	12. Frank- I'm still Here

Light danced before him, tall towering flames that blinded him to the world around him. He could see shadowy figures moving slowly, as if through water. The images had a life like quality that he was unaccustomed too for dreams. Like they were memories rather than a bad dream, but that was impossible.  
_I am a question to the world, not an answer to be heard._  
"Wake up you, punk kid," he started as a bucket of ice water was thrown over his head, soaking the mattress he was sleeping on. "Have a nice nap, Sleeping Beauty?"  
"What the—Who are you?" he shouted, wiping the water from his face os he could see his assailant.  
He wished he had not. It was one thing to be woken up by being doused in water. But it was another thing to be doused by a stranger wearing black leather, Ray-Bans and a scowl that would have frightened even the most hardened of warriors. The scowl deepened considerably.  
"I'm Ares, the God of War," the man answered, his height growing considerably. "And you, you little punk kid, are late."  
"Late?" he climbed out of the bed, starting to strip off his soaked shirt. "I don't do anything, how can I be late for something?"  
"Not you, you weak little slob," Ares scowled looking around at the clutter surrounding them in the small bedroom. "I'd hate to think what would have happened if they'd sailed anywhere with you." The god kicked a pile of clothes with the toe of his black biker boots. "They'd probably still be anchored in South Carolina under Roman guard."  
"Romans in the Carolinas?" he picked up a shirt from the pile Ares had knocked over, and after a brief inspection and smell test he started to pull it over his head. "What are you talking about?"  
"Oh kid, you've got a lot to learn—And put on a clean shirt!" Ares snatched the shirt from and threw it away from them. The shirt burst in to flames and disappeared in a cloud of smoke in seconds. "Personal hygiene is important, even for lazy bums like you!"  
_Or a moment, to be held in your arms._  
"That was my favorite shirt," he protested, staring where his shirt had vanished.  
"Then you should have taken care of it," the god blasted a pile of clothes with fire. "And you need to get your life together, how do you live in this mess?!"  
"It's my mess! And despite you're claim at being an ancient deity, it's none of your business," he snatched some of his clothes from the floor before Ares could obliterate them.  
"Claim? I am Ares, the God of War!" Ares shouted, growing so his head brushed the ceiling. "And I took time out of my busy schedule to come here and talk to you, again!"  
"I don't know you."  
"No, I'd assume Mars is more you're speed isn't he?" the god shifted for a minute, but quickly returned to Ares.  
"Mars? Another ancient deity?" he scoffed. "What kind of biker-tough-guy is a history buff?"  
"I am the God of War!" Ares shouted, the fire in his eyes burning brighter, showing through his Ray-Bans. "And I've taken time out to come and see you again, kid, as in this is not the first time I've had to come and kick your sorry butt into shape."  
_And what do you think you'd ever say? I won't listen anyway._  
"I don't need you to," he shouted, glaring at the god.  
"That's not what it looks like to me," Ares sent another pile of filth up in flames. "Is that, left over take-out?" he shouted seeing the half eaten container of Chinese take-out he had left after supper the night before.  
"Why do you care about me?"  
"You're my kid, well Mars' kid, but still my kid."  
"Whatever," he turned from the intruder and left his room.  
_You don't know me, and I'll never be what you want me to be._  
"Don't walk away from me," the god's hand fell on his shoulder, stopping him and forcing him to turn around the face his supposed father. "I came here for a reason."  
"Yea, to kick my sorry butt into shape," he retorted heatedly, anger rising. "You told me already."  
"No, there's another reason," Ares sighed shaking his head. "I made a promise to someone."  
"Gods make promises?"  
"Swore on the River Styx for that kid;" the fire in Ares eyes intensified, showing around the rims of his Ray-Bans, "and I hate that kid. So you know I really don't want to do this, but it has to be done."  
"Sounds like you've got some story."  
"I don't need your sass boy," Ares looked down his nose at his son, the boy he had tracked down to help after the loss in the Ancient Lands. "I can't be gone for too long, Zeus will already be having a fit I've been gone this long."  
"Then go back to wherever you came from," he tore free of Ares' grip. "Whatever you think about me is wrong, so just leave me alone."  
_And what do you think you'd understand, I'm a boy, no, I'm a man._  
He walked away from Ares, leaving the god in his room. And he left the house, he was capable of looking after himself, he did not need someone watching over him, trying to force him into redefining his life. It was his life! He could do whatever he wanted with his life, and some hundreds-of-years old "god" was not going to tell him otherwise.  
He roamed the streets for what felt like hours. Fuming over the rude awakening, and destruction of his property, and the criticisms of his life; the walk to clear his head was just making him angrier. What was with that guy? What gave him the right to just show up? What made that "god" think he was a demi-god?  
_You can't take me and throw me away._  
"Okay, I might have been a bit brash before," he looked up to see the god seated on a monstrous motorcycle outside of a gas station. "Aphrodite tells me I have to learn to manage my anger."  
"Not interested," he shrugged past the god on the motorcycle.  
"You could at least hear me out," the motorcycle rolled beside him, roaring but deafened by the power of the god while they talked. "I did,"  
"Come all this way to talk to me," he blustered in a half-hearted attempt to mimic the God of War. "I know you told me."  
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood," the god threatened with a deepened scowl.  
"A good mood?" he laughed speeding up to try and outpace the god. "I'd hate to see you on a bad day."  
"You would, it's not a pretty picture. Now are you going to talk to me, or are we going to play cat and mouse all day?"  
"I have nothing to talk to you about," he responded simply gaining a little distance from the motorcycle. "That's why I left."  
"I think if you really took the time to talk to me, you'd find you've got plenty to talk to me about," he laughed at the god's pitiful attempt to make him interested. "I know things kid, things about you. And the things I know would make your head spin."  
"If these things you know are about me, I think I'd know what they are," he raised his brow at the man on the motorcycle. "Unless you're talking about the one who's your kid; or was it Mars' kid?"  
"Mock all you want kid, but I know you were dreaming about the fires when I doused you this afternoon."  
_And how can you learn what's never shown? Yeah, you stand there here on your own. _  
His eyes narrowed looking at the god. He had been dreaming about a fire, he had never been in a fire but there were plenty of movies that deal with fires. He could have been dreaming about some movie, not that he could remember the details now.  
The only thing that seemed odd was that this man was talking about a specific fire. A specific fire that he had lived through. And this "god" knew that he had been in that fire.  
"That look confirms it, so can we talk?"  
_They don't know me 'cause I'm not here._  
They moved to small diner well off the beaten path. Ares said they had to stay on the down low as long as possible, so some punk would have a harder time finding them. And Ares scowled when they walked in, scarring everyone but the waitress from the dining area in the blink of an eye. The god seemed pleased with the response and chose a corner booth.  
After the waitress brought them drinks and took their orders she vanished into the kitchen, and did not return. Ares leaned back in the bench seat, his arms resting on the top as he looked over his son. It was a pity that this kid had been Roman, if this kid had been Greek he would have been an impressive warrior, rival to that brat of Poseidon. But the Romans were different, Mars did not help his children, none of the Roman's helped one another.  
"You said you wanted to talk to me," the kid still had the Mars look, that look of hate and lust that drove men to battle. Ares smiled.  
"I did, and I do," Ares replied. "What do you remember about the fire?"  
"What fire?"  
Punk kid, Ares bit back a snarky comment. "The one in Greece."  
"I've never been to Greece. Vince, Rome, Verona, Milan, Florence, you know Italy. But I've been to Greece." Ares glared at the boy, who smiled innocently in return.  
"The one that landed you here. Remember that fire?"  
_I want a moment to be real, wanna touch things I don't feel._  
"So that actually happened? This fire I've been dreaming about, it was a real thing?"  
"The Ancient Lands are still burning, that boy of Hephaestus really did a number on those plains."  
Leo, the son of Hephaestus was a jokester named Leo. He could remember that, he also remembered that the boy could control fire. It burned within him, like the rage he was experiencing the presence of the God of War.  
"His name is Leo," he told the god. "And we had to; it helped to defeat the giants."  
"I think it was a bit excessive. And that's really saying something considering who I am."  
"If you had showed up we wouldn't have had to resort to that plan."  
They glared at one another. Ares shifted in his seat, and leaned forward over the table maintaining his look of displeasure at the boy. This boy was not like he had been before, but that boy was still in there. The son of Mars was waiting on the sidelines, just like always.  
Ares could bring him out. After all, that's what the gods were really doing here, finding their almost dead children in the memories of these mortals. And if Ares was good at one thing, it was finding and angering demi-gods.  
_And you see the things they never see, all you wanted I could be._  
"I admit it, I should have gone."  
The boy raised his brow again.  
"But I didn't, I had thought a child of Mars could handle it; especially since you had that brat of Poseidon's with you."  
"We needed the help of the gods."  
"I did help," Ares snapped. "I even collaborated with my Roman self to help you."  
"We were still in Rome."  
"I think it counted," Ares folded his arms over his chest. "I did better than those other gods, I actually showed up."  
"Funny I didn't see you."  
_They can't break me as long as I know who I am._  
Frank turned around to see Percy standing in the doorway of the restaurant. He had changed, but they all had changed a little. Frank could tell it was Percy by the look in his eyes. The fierce determination, the anger that swirled behind his green eyes, all characteristics he had seen when they first quested together.  
"I thought you were still looking for that Praetor kid," Ares growled at Percy, "Or the one that likes to blow everything up."  
"We found them," Percy growled in return. "I never thought you'd actually care enough to come."  
_The world is still sleeping while I keep on dreaming for me._  
"I care about my children! You remember that, I have one who brings me much pleasure in pushing you around."  
"She hasn't pushed me around since I was fourteen."  
"Yea, whatever, I know you're still scared of her.  
_And their words are just whispers and lies that I'll never believe._  
"I thought we were talking about me," Frank interrupted the argument, which seemed to be a continuation of several previous encounters.  
"We're not talking about anybody, except the gods," Percy never turned his attention from Ares. "Who all failed to help their children."  
"That's not fair! I helped him in Rome, you never would have made it to the Ancient Lands if I hadn't helped him in Rome."  
"And we wouldn't be in this mess now if you'd managed to show up when we fought against Gaia."  
"I'm not the only one," Ares blustered, but stopped quickly. It was true; he was not the only one who had not come to their aide. But that was not an excuse.  
"No, you weren't the only one," Frank stood up and joined Percy. "And hopefully you won't be the only one not there this time."  
_I'm still here._  
"I'll be there," Ares grumbled as the boys walked out of the diner.  
Percy clapped Frank on the shoulder as they started down the street. Frank managed to smile at the familiarity of the action, but it was still weird. They were friends, but at the same time this was a stranger at his side.  
He looked behind him briefly at the diner. Ares was sitting on his motorcycle, glaring after the two of them. Frank sighed turning back to where they were walking, trying to ignore the look his father was giving them. He heard the motorcycle roar to life and then vanish as the god vanished. He looked back over his shoulder to where he had last seen the god.  
_Why'd you have to wait to find me?_


	13. Piper- Unwell

She looked up from the monitor of her laptop, her eyes scanning the small room. It was dark; she turned to window to stare at the deep purple of the night sky. She had spent the whole day lying in her room. Again.  
_All day staring at the ceiling, making friends with shadows on my wall._  
"Again," she breathed looking back to her laptop. Her background glared blindingly against the darkness she now knew existed. It was strange how the knowing about something changed the perspective of everything around it.  
If she had not finished that particular series and exited from her browser she never would have known it was dark out. If she had not looked away from her computer she never would have realized she had wasted another day. But it was just another day, just like the one before it, and the one before it.  
_All night I hear voices telling me that I should get some sleep._  
She took a deep breath and sighed, her eyes readjusting to the glare of her laptop screen. She opened her browser again, her fingers flying over the keyboard, taking her back to her series watching site. She was wide-awake. It seemed she was always awake.  
When she thought the wave of exhaustion was coming, she stared it down, sent it away. Sleep would not help her. She had nothing to do, nowhere to be. So what did she need to sleep for? What purpose did she have to leave this room?  
But sometimes she could hear a voice. It was calling to her, telling her something. She never listened, it was Greek or Latin. She did not speak Greek. But she could sense what the voice was telling her, some engrained message that she had something to do.  
_Tomorrow might be good for something._  
But she had nothing to do. She was on break from school. She was a loner. She had always been a loner. She did not need people; she had not needed anyone for a long time.  
And yet the part of her that was whispering that she had something to do, was also saying she had not always been a loner. There used to be people, friends, and they still needed her. Just like her subconscious said she needed them.  
_Feeling like I'm heading for a breakdown and I don't know why._  
That was not possible. She had been alone for years. No one would need her. No one had ever needed her. It must have been the sleep deprivation that caused the whispers, caused this imagined support group. She needed sleep, but she was wide-awake, and had a whole new series loading on her computer.  
_But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell, I know right now you can't tell._  
Twenty episodes later, she closed the laptop and climbed out of her bed. The sky was starting to lighten. Dawn was approaching, and she was still awake.  
She pulled a hoodie over the tank top she wore, and slid her feet into a worn pair of tennis shoes. She had once been active; it seemed like a lifetime ago that she was involved in things. She had still been alone though, she had the pretense of social interactions, but she had still been outcast.  
She had to leave, to get away from the four walls she had been staring at for days on end. A quick jog would help ease the feelings of insanity. A quick stretch might make her tired enough to sleep. It might make someone mad that she would be sleeping most of the day, but it would be better than listening to how she never slept.  
_But stay a while and maybe then you'll see different side of me._  
The streets were mostly empty. A few early morning joggers, businessmen walking to their office with their eyes down and jacket collars turned up. They were the ones who would leave her to her own devices. They would ignore her and her self-commentary.  
_I'm talking to myself in public, dodging glances on the train._  
She ran into a train station, by-passed the ticket counter and hopped the barrier. She slid on the train as the doors closed. She jogged in place in a corner, half hidden in shadows from the few early morning commuters, waiting for the doors to open again so she could run more.  
All this time on the train was too much. She was near people, the people who did not understand. They were the ones who talked, the ones who judged everyone without ever knowing them.  
They had no idea about her. About the whispers in Greek, the Latin phrases that she knew but could not understand. They knew she was one of those kids that spent too much time on her computer, but not why. And they judged her because of her computer addiction. But they had no idea who she was, who she had been.  
_And I know they've all been talking about me, I can hear them whisper._  
Her mind had recently filled with thoughts, thoughts that did not belong to her. Thoughts she could never have concocted in her wildest dreams. War was running through her mind and not the War on Terrorism. It was a different war, one that hit a lot closer to home. And the people, the ones in her mind that spoke of the importance of tomorrow, they were part of the war, and she was part of the war. She had been part of the war.  
How could she be part of a war, she was just a kid; a teenager that had social anxiety and watched too much Japanese anime. It was possible the war she was remembering was a collective figment of her imagination from all the anime she had watched non-stop since she went on break from school. She could just play it off that she was placing the shows as memory. But who did that? Normal people did not do that.  
Where did these memories come from?  
_It makes me think there must be something wrong with me._  
She shook her head, dislodging the thought as the brakes squealed and the train came to a stop. She bounced on the balls of her feet waiting for the doors to open. She had to get away from the people. They were staring at her, she could feel it.  
People, it was always people, they caused the problems. That was why she had such a problem with them. The people judged you before they knew you. People ostracized others for no reason. They had left her, everyone had left her alone.  
She was fine. She had always been fine on her own. She was a loner, and she preferred it that way.  
It was just sometimes she wished she was a sociable. That she had friends, a support system that she could talk to. As much as she enjoyed her anime, how much she thought she could relate to them, they were not real. The heroes in those stories could not help her.  
_I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired. I know right now you don't care._  
"Mind if I join you?" She had run into a park. Her sub-conscience wishes about having friends distracted her. She had unknowingly run into the one place where she would have interaction. And someone was very quick to decide that she could use the company.  
"I mean, I hate running," the boy continued. "And maybe, if you hate running too, we could push each other."  
"I don't hate running," she answered trying to outpace the dark haired boy beside her. His long legs made her attempts futile.  
_Pretty soon they'll come to get me, they're taking me away._  
"Oh," he gasped, nodding; "Right. Well it's just, you look like someone I knew."  
"So?"  
He gave a lopsided grin. "I was just thinking you might be her."  
"What? Did you lose her?" she asked the boy heatedly.  
"Sort of," his green eyes sparkled. She had an unsettling moment of familiarity, those eyes—she knew those shocking green eyes. "We got separated a few weeks back. I'm trying to find her and the others."  
"Others?" she turned a skeptical eye at the boy.  
"Yeah, six of my friends—we're playing the greatest game of hide-n-seek ever. I've almost won," he had a charming smile, one that she was drawn into.  
"To be fair, I found you," another boy appeared on her other side. He was shorter than the first one, and wore a stupid grin.  
"Four out of six, and I think you're the fifth," the first continued as if he had not been interrupted.  
"She doesn't look like Piper," the second commented, staring at her intently.  
"And you don't look like Leo," the first shrugged as if it was inconsequential. "Jason is the only one so far who looks like he did before, even kinda acts like he did before," the first frowned at the comment.  
She stumbled at the names. Piper, Leo, Jason; she knew those names. They were part of the memories, the war that only she remembered.  
They knew about this war too, they must know about it if they used those names. She stopped looking between the two boys, for the first time her breathing unsteady. If they were making fun of her—if these people where mocking her she would be done. Just done.  
_But soon enough you're gonna think of me and how I use to be._  
"Pipes, what's wrong?" the boy called Leo turned back to look at her.  
"It was real? That war, the fighting, I didn't make it all up?"  
The dark haired boy shook his head, "it was real."  
"I'm not crazy," she breathed falling back to the ground, he head falling down on her knees. "I'm not crazy."  
_I'm just a little unwell._  
"Uh, no more crazy than usual, I guess," Leo shuffled back a little from her, rubbing the back of his neck.  
"No, you're not crazy," Percy held his hand out to her.  
She looked up, watching the boy carefully. She was tempted to take his hand. He knew. He had said she was not crazy. He was part of those memories that were not real. But he said they were real, and she trusted him.  
She took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet.  
"Welcome back Pipes," Leo clapped her on the shoulder, grinning.  
She nodded, unable to form words.  
_Why'd you have to wait to find me?_


	14. Hazel- Crawling

_There's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface.  
_She was in control; always in control. She had worked her whole life to maintain her hold on the workings of the world around her. She was very good at maintaining her control over people. She could mold the world to her whims if she wanted. Not that she wanted that, who really needed the whole world bowing down to them?_  
This lack of self-control I fear is never ending.  
_And for someone who was so in control of the world around them, she quickly losing hold over her own mind. It was playing memories that did not belong to her, that could not belong to her. And the memories paralyzed her every time they haunted her mind._  
I can't seem to find myself again, my walls are closing in.  
_She sighed, closing her eyes in a poor attempted to make the fake memories go away. Her hands brushed her perfectly styled hair back from her face, smoothing it over her scalp. Always in control, she always had to be in complete control. She had managed it for years, she could get this under control too._  
_With a deep breath she opened her eyes, laying her head back against the wall. What had brought that on? Why was her mind falling to the wayside? And why did her mind scream out for people she did not know?_  
Discomfort endlessly has pulled itself upon me.  
_"That's not my life," she gasped, smoothing her hair back again, shaking her head in an attempt to dislodge the memories. "That's not my life."_  
_"No life awaits those who never took the time to embrace the simple things," she turned quickly to her side where a man in a business suit sat on the ground beside her. He had a neatly trimmed beard, short well-kept hair, had he not been an old man she could have found this man attractive, a possible partner to live her life with. He seemed like a man as in control as she had been. Before all of this started._  
_"I take pleasures," she defended sharply. "I have a life, and before this insanity started it was a good life."_  
_"Sure it was," the man smiled shaking his head. "Lots of friends; close family; a prefect, charming boyfriend who waits on you, hand and foot; all the things teenagers want." His obvious knowledge of her life startled her._  
_She had been a loner for as long as she could remember. She had no friends. She was too professional to deal with such an inconvenience. And she had never had the time for a relationship; that would have ruined her master plan, the plan that kept her in complete control. And her family; she had to have gotten this drive for perfection from somewhere._  
_"How do you?"_  
_"And those memories, the one's you're trying to forget, and hide from. They scare you, a lot more than they would anyone else, because they show you what you could have had. What you should have had. What you used to have," he motioned with his eyes across the room._  
Against my will I stand beside my own reflection, it's haunting.  
_A young girl stood against the far wall. Her golden eyes locked with the golden eyes floating under the caramel colored hair of the girl. As she stared at the girl she could see the similarities; the shape of their chins, the hardness of the eyes, the exact color of the hair. This girl held her body as she did, but the girl's stance was timid, defensive as opposed to her offensive. _  
_The girl on the far wall could have easily been her if her family was not power hungry, if her family had been the more "family-oriented" type. She could have been that girl, with friends and a relationship. She could have easily been that girl on the far wall, who flickered like a projection. _  
Without a sense of confidence, I'm convinced that there's too much pressure to take.  
_"I never had that," she tore her eyes away from the girl to look at the man beside her. "Whatever those memories are, they aren't mine."_  
_"No, they belong to her," he answered simply, his head motioning to the girl. "And sadly she has to use your body for a while."_  
_"What?" she balked at his words, trying to move away from him. But she was trapped beside the man, forced to listen. Powerless, she hated being powerless._  
I've felt this way before, so insecure.  
_"No, that can't be." She shook her head frantically._  
_The fires roared around her, towering flames that consumed her. She screamed, feeling as her flesh burned and melted from her body. It felt so real, but it could not be. She stared at her arms, which burned with the intensity of the fires, and saw only her dark skin._  
_"I haven't, why does—no!" she forced herself from the ground, and turned on the man. "It's my life! Mine. She, whoever she is, can't just take it." She had to maintain control. She always had to be in control. That was the master plan; that was what she had worked so hard for. _  
_The fires still burned, intensifying with her rage at the man on the ground beside her. Her arms burned, the skin growing red from the memory. It hurt, she could have cried from the pain tearing through her body. But nothing would have been as horrible as losing herself._  
Crawling in my skin, these wounds they will not heal.  
_Her arms were lined with the scars of the fire, huge red marks that had never fully healed. Some were still stinging, oozing puss and water. It hurt; the cool clean air caused the injuries to protest, causing searing waves of crippling pain to radiate through her whole body. But she was alive, and she knew the pain was temporary, as she came back._  
Fear is how I fall, confusing what is real.  
_"Lord Hades," Hazel took a deep breath of the clean air, using the moment of respite to allow her skin to return to normal._  
_"Hazel," the Lord of the Underworld smiled standing beside his daughter. He turned and walked away, as he always had when they met. _  
_Hazel did not mind, she was supposed to be dead, but Hades, or Pluto, had allowed her to stay in the World of the Living after the Doors of Death were closed. The Lord of the Dead, her own father, ignored her so that she would not have to return to the Underworld._  
There's something inside me that pulls beneath the surface, consuming.  
_"I'm sorry," she murmured quietly, looking down at the perfectly pressed outfit she was wearing. She would never have worn that. But someone would, and that someone was gone now. Because she had to fight Gaia and try to save the world._  
This lack of self-control I fear is never ending, controlling.  
_"Hazel!"_  
_Percy was at the door to this room. He wore shorts and a hoodie that was very unlike Percy. But she was also wearing clothes that did not fit her personality. But she knew it was Percy, no one else had that smile or those green eyes._  
_"Percy," she greeted, looking back to where she had been sitting. She could still see the girl whose body she had taken. And she fought the urge to stay as that girl. "Where are the others?"_  
_"Waiting on you Hazel," he smiled._  
Confusing what is real.  
_She was always in control, and she always would be.


	15. Closer

_All that is near us, we must know, could disappear any day, be careful.  
_The sun glittered over the endless blue-green water below them. A strong wind blew upon them from the stern, filling the sheets and propelling the ship to greater speeds. The whole affair seemed so familiar, but they were separate. More divided than they had ever been, except when they were in the van driving for the coast. That was the furthest apart seven people could be while crammed in a single vehicle._  
_The apparent space offered on the deck of the Argo II allowed them to come together a little. There was no press of people, so they could form new bonds with old friends. Which was a cause of headache inducing confusion for all of them; except for Hazel, who seemed to have a pretty good handle on the madness._  
The main key to finding happiness lies nowhere else but in my soul.  
_It was unsettling. How could people who had once been so close become so distant? Become strangers? And the more they tried to return to the almost jovial attitude they had vague memories of, the more they separated._  
You could reminisce, you could recall, the very last time you felt joy.  
_Percy sighed leaning over the railing of the Argo II, staring at the water rushing past them, imagining what it would feel like if the warship was gliding over the water instead of through the air. He knew what if felt like to be rolling over the waves of the ocean, he had sailed—before, in that life he was forcing himself to remember—and the other him, the one who remembered all those things had been the son of the Sea God, he felt completely at home on the water. But the other him, the real him, hated the water, it made him sick._  
_He stood up, moving away from the rail and the thoughts of plummeting several hundred feet into the rolling ocean beneath them. He needed to try and reconnect with some of the others. Like Annabeth._  
_She was one he wanted to really remember, to connect with. Even without the overlapping memories he would have wanted to be with her. And even with the overlapping memories, she wanted nothing to do with him._  
Or maybe you are so blessed to a point where you can't remember anything.  
_She glared at him through stormy grey eyes as he crossed the deck to where she was schooling Leo in controlling the ship. New Leo seemed unable to comprehend the simplicity or complexity of the console Old Leo had installed on the ship. But Annabeth, whichever she Annabeth she was, had a firm handle on it. New Annabeth was a gamer, probably as smart as Old Annabeth because of it._  
_"What do you want?" she snapped, setting one of the many controllers down on the beeping console at the helm. She did not like him, for reasons she refused to talk about._  
_"I," he faltered, running his fingers through his hair. "I was just wondering if you felt like kicking my butt at flying this hunk of war machine."_  
_"Festus is not a 'Flying hunk of war machine'," Leo, who was normally very peaceful, snapped at Percy. "He's the greatest thing I've ever had. The best thing I ever built, any being in the universe has ever built!"_  
_"Okay," Percy held his hands up in surrender, fighting to keep a sarcastic smile subdued. "I was just joking."_  
_"Don't ever joke about Festus," the boy's eyes narrowed._  
_"Dude, chill," Jason came up behind Leo and Annabeth, his arm sliding across Annabeth's shoulders. She smiled up at the tall blond boy. A growl rumbled in Percy's chest. "He was just trying to lighten the mood, you know before we all go and die again."_  
It's a harmony, a miracle being able to breathe and live at all.  
_"Well aren't you just a bright ray of sunshine," Percy allowed his jealousy to lace his words as he glared at Jason. "You always this cheery, or is this week just special?" _  
_"I don't know what your problem is, and I don't care," Jason's hand curled around Annabeth's shoulder, like he was protecting her._  
_That was Percy's job. And seeing a jock like Jason do it, that seriously ticked him off. Percy's hands clenched at his sides, his green eyes narrowing to a point he was certain they looked like a raging maelstrom._  
So here is your one and only chance.  
_"I don't have a problem," he turned from Jason and Annabeth. He turned from Leo to go find someone else to form a new bond with._  
Life is an opportunity.  
_Hazel was sitting on the steps leading below deck. She had a notebook in her lap and a pen spinning through her fingers. She had her caramel hair tied back loosely, ringlets fell around her face. She smiled at Percy as he started down the steps._  
_"She just doesn't remember," the younger girl offered kindly, her pen stopping like she was going to start writing something on the blank page._  
You know the closer you get to something, the tougher it is to see it.  
_ "I remembered her," Percy seethed continuing down the steps._  
_"This isn't like that," she offered as Percy disappeared below the deck. "She's not really Annabeth."_  
_Percy ignored her. He knew it was true, but that did not mean the Old Percy liked it. The New Percy was finding it hard to be a fan too. He just wanted to get back to Greece and finish this fight with Gaia so he could go back home._  
_Frank was in the mess, laying spread eagle on the table, staring at the scenery that flashed on the walls. His brow was furrowed as he watched the wall, his lips pressed in a thin line. Percy stopped on his way down to the cabin that had belonged to him in the past life, looking at the boy on the table._  
_"I don't get it," Frank finally commented, not turning from the wall._  
_"Get what?"_  
_"This wall," Frank's hand made a feeble attempt to motion at the wall showing strawberry fields in full bloom. "Why would someone want strawberry fields on the wall of a warship?"_  
_"It's not a warship," Percy managed to get the boy to turn and face him. "That's what Leo said," Percy offered in response to the unasked question._  
_Frank's brow furrowed further as he turned back to the wall, "he's a weird kid."_  
_"Coming from the kid laying on the table," Percy muttered drily starting down the hall again._  
_"I heard that!"_  
_"I don't care!" _  
Some people may call a kind deed of act of mere hypocrisy.  
_He met Piper in the hall. She was walking with her nose in a book that Percy was fairly positive she was reading backwards. He could see graphics on the pages, symbols instead of words between the pictures. She looked up at him with her kaleidoscope eyes, the colors were coming back since she joined them again, like Percy's had turned green after his brief confrontation with Poseidon._  
_"Something wrong?" For a reclusive person, she was very perceptive. Her eyes caught his as she closed her book, not even bothering to mark her page._  
But never mind those who have lost faith, you shouldn't give in to what they say.  
_ "No," he tried to pass her._  
_Piper held her arm out, the book she was reading smacking him in the chest. "You're a terrible lair."_  
_"I'm not lying. Nothing's wrong." Her brow arched, her face gave off waves of disbelief. "It's that Jason guy," Percy offered after a silent stand-off._  
_A small smile touched her lips, "am I detecting the scent of jealousy?"_  
_"If it smells like betrayal and humiliation, then yes, you do." He brushed past Piper retreating to his cabin._  
_Piper sighed turning away from Percy and opened her book again. She had read it before, it was one of the early volumes of a long running story she followed, but this "demi-god" thing had made technology "off-limits" which meant she had to reread the old stuff for a while. She walked past Frank, lounging on the table of the mess, staring scenes Piper found vaguely familiar._  
_"Given up?"_  
As a matter of fact, let me tell you, even if it was for a selfish cause.  
_ "A little," Frank answered. "I mean, we're all going to die at some point. The world will end eventually."_  
_"You don't want to fight against this Gaia-thing?"_  
_"We're not who the gods sent before. We're nothing compared to them," Frank rolled his head on the table to look directly at Piper. "Nothing."_  
A salvageable hypocrisy is superior murderous honesty.  
_"At least we're trying," Piper offered trying to convince herself that they were doing the right thing. "We have to do something."_  
_"If I remember correctly, we're the only ones trying to stop this mess. Not even the gods want to be involved, too scared. Sissies," Frank muttered sitting up and sliding off the table._  
_"But if we don't do something," Piper began._  
_"Everybody dies eventually," Frank repeated starting up the stairs back to the deck._  
Everybody tells you from time to time, to never give up like a phrase from a movie.  
_"You should be nicer to her," Hazel narrowed her golden eyes at Frank as he climbed the steps. "She has a social anxiety."_  
_"Don't care," Frank went to push his way past Hazel, she stopped him, nearly tripping the larger boy. "Got a problem?" he challenged her heatedly._  
_"Yes, I do." Hazel snapped. "We are all freaking out about this. You could show a little compassion."_  
_"I don't have any compassion. The only reason I'm here is so Ares would get off my case," Frank glowered at Hazel storming up the steps. "And, if I were you, I'd quit bossing people around. You're not exactly big and mighty."_  
_"I don't have to be to take care of you," Hazel stood up, pushing Frank back against the wall, pinning him there with her arm under Frank's chin. "None of us are thrilled about this. None of us wanted to ripped from our lives to die in Greece fighting against an ancient deity. None of us choose to be half-bloods. So get over yourself," she stared Frank in the eye, waiting for him to nod that he understood her. She was not the Hazel as before, she was not going to let anyone push her around._  
They tell you to stand up for yourself, as if was always that easy.  
_"Got it," Frank grumbled. Hazel stepped back and started down the steps. She had to talk to Percy. Get Percy out of his foul mood, even if it meant bullying him as she had Frank, like she would Jason, Leo and Annabeth._  
_Hazel threw Percy's cabin door open and drug the boy out of room. She motioned with her head for Piper to follow them up on deck. This madness had gone on long enough._  
Gather a handful of courage in my heart, to go on and survive another day.  
_"I don't care what you all think. I don't care if you all could care less about this. I care about this," Hazel shouted, drawing the attention of everyone on the Argo II. "We need a plan for when we reach Gaia again."_  
_"We have a plan," Jason had his arm wrapped around Annabeth's shoulder. Percy was glaring at the tall blond boy, a scowl creasing his face. Annabeth smiled up at Jason, doting over the athletic boy beside her._  
_"Is it a plan for all of us? Or is so you two can survive and have nearly perfect children?" Leo snickered from behind the control station. Jason turned a vicious glare on the smaller boy._  
_"Shut it, you little,"_  
_"Enough," Hazel snapped again. "Fighting won't help us."_  
And I'll never take it for granted.  
_By the time Hazel got the others to cooperate and they formed a loose idea of a plan, it was dark. The sky was inky and cloudless, the stars shown like bright pinpoints around them. As the seven disbanded to entertain themselves, Percy stayed on the deck, leaning on the railing of the ship looking up. _  
_Of course Hazel had been right. They had a lot to do before they reached Greece, they needed to form a plan. But this had not been the first time they had made this trip._  
_This was not the first time they sailed without a plan. It would come to them. The plans always came to them; spur of the moment, flying by the seat of their pants. It always worked out._  
Let's go.  
_"Bob says hello," he told the stars._  
_The Argo II sailed into the night.

* * *

**Once agains it's time to give credit where credit is due.  
_You Found Me_ by The Fray  
_Once Upon a December_ by Deana Carter  
_Carry On_ by Fun.  
_Ready to Fall_ by Rise Against  
_I'm Still Here_ by Johnny Rzeznik  
_Unwell_ by Matchbox 20  
_Crawling_ by Linkin Park  
_Closer_ Inoue Joe**

**Thanks for reading!**


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